Fate: The Last Tears Shed
by UnicornxNinja
Summary: I hate the world. It's full of these disgusting humans that do nothing but feed off one another's misery. It sickens me. You sicken me. I hate the life I have and the body I'm in. I just want someone to save my life. -Final chapter in the Fate trilogy.
1. Prologue

A beginning.

Two words that can mean many different things.

It's a hard question to answer, really. What is a beginning? Because with every beginning, there is an end. And with every end, there is a beginning. It's all one big cycle. Life goes on after you die. I always thought that meant others' lives, not my own. And it was right before I died that I realized what life was really about. It's not something you can put into words, it's more of a realization. More things pop out at you. The air, the water, the light, the colour. Oh, the colour. Such a beautiful thing this world is with colour. And I saw all the colour for the very first time right before I died. The _real_ colour.

I wasn't supposed to remember anything. So why? Why did everything feel so familiar? Why was I dying inside for it to come back to me? Why did it come back to me? I didn't want any of this. I didn't want this kind of life. I wanted back who I used to be.

But want isn't enough in this world. That's the reason why I cried every night and didn't know why. I used to think the world was just black and white and someone needed to add a little colour to it. I wanted to be that person, but I couldn't.

Why? That's the big question in the world. And a very philosophical one, if you ask me. Why is anything in this world? I mean, if you think about it, it's really quite confusing. How did it all happen?

I know the answer. I know all the answers. It's something you will figure out too, when you die.

In this story, I can explain to you how I realized the answers. I can explain to you why I know the answers. But I will not tell you the actual answers.

Why? Well, I can tell you the answer to that one.

Fate.

_~Trinity Casil, January 27__th__, 2026_


	2. The Cause

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN JTHM! SO DEAL!**

**Note: So I sat down, completely ready to type this, when all of a sudden, BAM! I had no idea how to start it off. Like, I knew what was going to happen, but I didn't know how to write it.**

**Then I thought, 'Well, I'm bound to do this eventually', so, instead of it being in the middle of the story, I'm going to use a song for the very first chapter.**

**Song used: Listen to the Rain by Evanescence

* * *

**

_Listen to each drop of rain_

Xavier looked up at the sudden downpour that had struck in the middle of our walk. He didn't stop walking or let go of my hand, he just stared as we walked.

"I've always hated rain," he said with a sigh.

I giggled.

"What?" he asked.

_Whispering secrets in vain_

"Nothing," I replied. "It's just that I feel lucky we have rain."

He didn't say anything, so I decided to go on. "I mean, if you lived in the desert or something, then you wouldn't be able to hear the secrets."

"The secrets?" he said doubtfully.

_Frantically searching for someone to hear_

"Well, rain is part of the water cycle, right?" I said, smiling. "So that means each drop has been through a lot. Condensing, evaporating, all that stuff."

"Okay…"

_Their stories before they hit ground_

"So think of all the things they've seen. Of all the secrets they've heard. If they could only talk…" I spaced out, just listening to the beat of each drop as it fell to the ground beneath.

"Well, that's a lot of personification for just rain," Xavier laughed after a while, making me come back to Earth.

_Please don't let go. Can't we stay for a while?_

"I suppose," I huffed.

_It's just to hard to say goodbye_

"I guess it's kind of silly of you think about it." I looked away from the sky. "Rain telling secrets and-"

Xavier stopped, cutting me off mid-sentence.

_Listen to the rain…_

"Don't say that," he said, looking into my gaze. My chocolate brown eyes met with his emerald green ones, making me forget about the rain. He smiled. "I love it when you personify inanimate things. It's one of your beautiful, original qualities."

_Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen to the rain weeping_

I smiled too. "And that's one of yours." I pointed to my grin. "Making me smile."

_I stand alone in the storm_

The rain came down harder as I wrapped my arms around Xavier's neck and kissed him, the water on his lips meeting with mine.

_Suddenly sweet words take hold_

When it was over, I buried my face in his black trench coat, and just stood there, breathing him in, my arms around his waist. Everything about him was so calm and peaceful, whereas everything about me was crazy and…dizzy. I was so dizzy. Like I spend my whole life on a teacup ride, just spinning and spinning and I can't get off.

Why have I felt this way for longer than I can even remember?

_Hurry they say, for you haven't much time_

Then again, what do I remember?

_Open your eyes to the love around you_

But, that's ridiculous. I remembered my whole life. My parents died in a car crash when I was a little girl. I remembered the funeral, too. Looking down at them being buried together.

But I didn't cry.

_You may feel all alone, but I'm here still with you_

I wasn't sad at all. Not one bit. Nor am I today. I never was.

I was happy, growing up with my grandparents. In fact, I could never think of a time I was sad. I didn't ask for much, and when I met Xavier, I was only happier.

_You can do what you dream, just remember to listen to the rain_

But that question, that one question that has haunted me for so many years, is still burned into my mind.

Who am I really?

_Listen…

* * *

_

The world moves so fast. Time slips by right before us and we don't even care. We waste seconds of our life when we could be out there fulfilling it. Or at least, that's what everyone says we should be doing.

But what does that really even mean? Fulfilling a life? Putting in adventure and danger. Is that it?

But it isn't enough, is it? Nothing is ever enough for the human race. Always wanting more and is never pleased with what they have. To me, it feels like a curse. And sometimes I become so overwhelmed with the world that I almost pop.

Life is a gift, from my point of view. Of course, I always _have_ been the "glass half-full" kind of person. And that's because I'm enjoying life.

But sometimes, my life seems so happy and nice, that it doesn't feel quite right. Almost fake. Plastic. Made in China. Like my whole life is a dream and I just go through it, waiting and waiting to wake up.

But I never do.

* * *

That night, I had a dream.

I was standing alone in the middle of a field, the wind and rain making my hair whip violently in different directions. The day changed to night and I never felt so alone.

"Xavier!" I tried calling out to the endless field in front of me, but nothing came out of my mouth. I couldn't speak. I fell to the ground and looked around. My vision was going blurry and I couldn't see anything. Not that there was much to see.

Something shimmered in front of me. I squinted and saw a stone. I looked closer. A grave? I was so confused.

Lightning cracked through the sky, and I saw it. It was written on the grave. _R.I.P: Todd Casil_.

I woke up drenched in sweat. My hand was on my heart and I was gasping for air.

The grave said Casil. That was my last name. But, who was Todd?

I looked to my right to see a crease in the bed where Xavier had slept. We were only nineteen, but we lived together in a small one-bedroom apartment.

I got up and opened the bedroom door to see Xavier sitting on the couch, his nose buried in his sketchbook again.

I walked over and sat down next to him. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I looked at what he was sketching. It was a face. A girl.

"She's pretty."

"She's you."

I giggled, pulling my head up and kissing him on the cheek. I was used to Xavier getting up in the middle of the night to draw or paint something. It was starting to become a common thing.

I sighed. "I had a dream."

He grunted, acknowledging that he heard my statement. I went on. "Do you know anyone named Todd Casil?"

"No," Xavier replied. "Why? Is he a family member of yours or something?"

"That what I thought at first, but…" I trailed off. "Anyway, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's that?"

"Well I was curious- I mean, I wanted to know- um, well, what I'm trying to say is-" I stopped and grabbed a pillow, throwing my face into it. "This is harder than I thought," I said into it.

Xavier put the sketchbook down. "What is it?"

I got up. "Never mind. It can wait."

Xavier laughed and pulled me into a hug. "Well, now you got me interested. What's up, Trin?"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "The sky."

"Please tell me?" Xavier asked.

I kicked me feet like a child and moaned, "I caaaaan't."

He chuckled and kissed me. I jumped on top of him and kissed back.

After it was over, I laid on top of him and sighed. I bent down to his ear, closed my eyes, and whispered.

"I'm pregnant."

* * *

**MAN! I HAVE NEVER HAD AS BIG WRITER'S BLOCK AS I DO NOW! THIS TOOK ME FOREVER!**

**Anyway, ZOMG! But you probably all knew that was coming.**

**Bria: I promised I would have this up last week, so I didn't have time to send this to you. Can you please beta this and send it back to me. –puppy dog eyes-**

**Anyway, you guys know what to do! Click that little button below and review, please!**

**Anon~!**

**~Nikki-sama**


	3. The Explanation

**Disclaimer: Moo.

* * *

**

The day Tabatha Diablo was born, it was raining.

Trinity lay in her bed, staring down at the newborn with a tear in her eye. Xavier sat next to her, resting his head on the wall behind them. No one said a word.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Xavier said, breaking the silence.

Trinity nodded, another tear rolling.

Time had certainly stood still that day. The world just seemed to stop. God's newest gift to the world was a nightmare.

And no one ever saw it coming.

* * *

"Tabatha. Wake up."

Renee was shaking me and slapping me on the back.

"Fuck off," I replied groggily.

"Tabatha, you have to get up, girl," Renee said, turning me over. She gave me a shove and I tumbled off the bed, sheets and all.

"I hate you," I mumbled, getting up.

I was just kidding, of course. Renee was my best friend in the whole world, and my roommate. We live together. Not in an apartment or a house or anything like that. An orphanage. In fact, we're the only two who've lived here our whole lives. Amazing, right?

My name is Tabatha…well, I don't exactly have a last name, so until I marry someone, it's Smith. How original, right? If only I could talk when I was a newborn, then maybe I could've given myself an exotic last name. But I know my first name is real. See, when my so-called "parents" left me on the doorstep of this hellhole, they only left me with one thing; a piece of paper with the words "Her name is Tabatha" on it.

Renee has been my roommate my whole life. Sixteen years and we've never been adopted. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was fate.

Not only were we roommates, but we've been in school together forever too. She was so small and timid back then, so I had to fight all her battles. She had this thing about being teased when she was younger because she's black, but I think I did a pretty good job of eating their faces off.

I got up off the floor and pulled the ponytail out of my hair, the black mess spilling over my shoulders and face.

"I'll get dressed later," I said. "We should head downstairs before all the good food is eaten and we're left with soggy waffles again."

"Maybe we would've gotten there faster if I didn't have to drag your sorry butt out of bed," Renee replied, flashing a smile.

We walked downstairs and saw suitcases in the hall, our friend Victoria sitting down next to them.

"Hey, Victoria," I said. "What's with the-"

"I'm leaving," she stated, picking her head up. "I've been adopted."

Renee made an O-shape with her mouth while I just stared. Something in her eyes was different that the smile on her face. She looked…almost sad. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I smiled. "Well, good," I said. "I hope you like your new family."

"Yeah, where as me and Tabby here couldn't get adopted if our lives depended on it." Renee grinned.

I playfully punch her arm. "Don't call me 'Tabby'."

Victoria stood up and brushed off her jeans. "Come to think, why haven't you guys ever been adopted?"

"No one likes Renee 'cause she's pushy," I laughed.

Renee laughed too. "Yeah, and no one like Tabatha because she can't get out of bed in the morning."

Our laughter was interrupted by the matron of the house walking in. "Victoria, it's time to go."

So we said our goodbyes and hugged…well, they hugged. I don't like being touched by other people, so we just shook hands.

Renee sighed as we walked away.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I was just thinking…"

"Oh no," I said sarcastically. "I hate when you do that."

She giggled, then continued. "I was thinking, when _will_ we get adopted?"

"Dunno," I said sitting down at a table to eat breakfast. "And honestly, I don't care."

"Why not?" she protested. "You want to live in this dump forever?"

"No," I replied. "Not at all."

"So you don't want to live here and you don't want to be adopted?" she asked. "It's one or the other, hon."

I sighed. "I just haven't liked the last few families that have adopted me."

"So that's why you keep running away?"

I smiled. "Partly."

Renee shook her head. "Tabatha Smith, I don't understand you at all."

I sighed. "Neither do I."

* * *

**Sorry it's so short, guys. The chapters will get longer as we get more into the plot and stuff.**

**Also, I'm sorry it took so long to update. I've been experiencing a lot of writers block lately and it SUCKS!**

**Please review and stuff. Yeah…**

**PLHE (WOW! How long has it been since I said THAT?)**

**~Nikki-sama**


	4. The Pain

Part-time jobs involve being around other people, which is one thing I cannot stand. However, without this particular part-time job, I wouldn't have met Luce Edmunds.

I work at the library after school every week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday making fucking minimum wage. What? If I want to eat some decent food every once in a while I'm going to have to have money.

Anyway, I was off restacking books in the manga section when I came across one with a ripped cover. I sighed and reached for the nearest tape dispenser, which was on the desk right next to me, when I felt another hand on top of it. I stood up to see who it was.

Standing before me was a girl about 6'4 with beautiful blond hair. Not the disgusting dyed kind that makes your hair stringy and feel like straw, but the soft, natural kind that gave off a bit of warmth. It made me feel…safe.

"Sorry," she said in a voice more pure than honey. "You can use it."

"Thanks," I replied, pulling some off and sticking it to the cover.

The girl stuck out her hand. "I'm Luce." She grinned. "Luce Edmunds."

I stared at her hand for a while, examining her perfect French manicure before shaking it back. "Tabatha."

"Do you work here?" she asked, leaning on the desk.

"Part-time," I replied. I looked at the girl again and noticed she was wearing a school uniform; a maroon skirt with black knee-high socks and a matching maroon jacket over her black polo shirt. On the jacket, there was a crest with the letters "SL" embroidered on. "Judging by that uniform of yours, I assume you go to Saint Lilith School?"

She nodded. "That's right. And judging by tour baggy sweatpants and ratty old T-shirt, I assume you go to public school?"

I rolled my eyes. "And what's wrong with that?"

"Absolutely nothing," Luce replied with a smile. "I wish I could go to public school. Saint Lilith is eight hours a day of black and white boredom." She looked down at her uniform. "Or should I say black and red?" She stifled a laugh at her own joke.

"Not like my school's any better," I muttered. "It's trashy and always have the faint smell of bologna."

Luce laughed much louder than necessary, earning her an annoyed look by the people around her. When she was finished, she looked back at me, still smiling. "So you hate school too?"

"That's what I said."

"So do you go to a trashy school because your parents are broke, or something?"

I froze. "Um, no," I said finally. "No, Lakefront High School, my trashy school, is the one that takes in the kids from the orphanage down the street from it."

Luce's smile faded. "Oh…" she said meekly. "Oh, I see."

"Yeah…"

After what seemed about five minutes of an awkward silence, I quickly finished taping up the book and started walking away. "Well, see ya."

"Wait, Tabatha." Luce put a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe we could hang out sometime and get to know each other a little better."

I brushed off her hand. "Maybe." And took off.

* * *

Darkness. That's all I could see. Darkness.

And I'm running. Running, running—running so fast just to stand still. And there's nothing I can do but slowly watch as I run and leave the world behind. To get away. To stand still. To breathe.

But if I slow down, everything will come back. The past. The one thing I fear most. So I continue to run, so it'll never catch up with me. So I can leave it all behind.

But sometimes I wonder—am I leaving the world behind, or is the world leaving me behind?

My eyes shot open and I was gasping. I couldn't breathe. Why couldn't I breathe? Why was everything pitch black?

And then it hit me so fast that it actually hurt. The library. The girl. The pain. And I knew where I was, too. I sat up from being completely buried under the covers of my bed and gasped for air, clutching my neck and realizing I was drenched in sweat.

I looked around the room and saw the usual chipped baby blue paint on the wall, and the crack in the ceiling, and also the usual black sheets on my bed. Somehow, all the normal, regular things made me feel safer. More comfortable. More at home.

There was something in the palm of my hand. I looked down and saw that I fell asleep clutching the familiar piece of paper. The old, wrinkled paper with the words "Her name is Tabatha" written on it.

The door clicked open and Renee walked in. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty."

"Hi, Renee."

I got up out of my bed and walked over to mirror to look at myself—running my hands through my hair and rubbing my face.

"Uh, whatcha doing?" Renee asked, taking a seat on her bed.

"I had a weird dream," I explained, running my fingers through my rat-nest black hair once again, keeping my bangs from falling in front of my face. "I was surrounded by darkness and I was running. But it was closing in on me and I couldn't breathe."

"Weird," Renee replied softly.

I grinned. "I guess that's what happens when I fall asleep with the sheets over my head."

Renee started laughing but stopped abruptly and stared and my still grinning face. "Hey, did you chip your teeth or something?" she asked.

My smile evaporated. "Um…no," I said wearily. "I don't think so."

"It's just that two of them seem…pointier, I guess?" Renee stated as if it were a question. She turned around and grabbed a magazine off the bedside table.

I looked at my teeth in the mirror. Certainly, my two eyeteeth looked a bit chipped. "That weird…" I muttered to myself.

"Maybe you rolled over and hit your face against the wall while you were asleep," Renee said while flipping through the magazine.

"Maybe…"

* * *

"_It is time."_

"_**For what?"**_

"_The awakening."

* * *

_

**Okay, NO! Tabatha is NOT a vampire! So don't ask me that!**

**The plot is unraveling as we meet Luce Edmunds, the mysterious girl who goes to private school. We'll find out more about her later. So you'll have to deal with the agony.**

**Thanks for reading this, yet again, short chapter of The Last Tears Shed. Again, they will get longer…maybe.**

**Please leave nice reviews so I can feed my starving puppy…which would make sense if I had a puppy…and if that puppy was starving…**

**XOXOY7,**

**~Nikki-sama**

**_Bria: I put this chapter up before sending it to you because I wanted it up before I went on vacation this Thursday. Sorry I couldn't get it to you early, my internet was off._  
**


	5. The Remembrance

"Tabatha!" Renee collected me in huge hug as I stepped through the door of our room.

"Um…Renee?" I asked. "Is there any particular reason why you're cutting off my airway with your exaggerated hugging?" I pulled away. "Also, I hate being touched."

"Sorry, I'm just excited." Renee appeared to be bouncing on the heels of her feet.

"Why's that?" I pulled the strap of my bag over my head to pull off.

"I'm being adopted!"

My bag hit the ground with a loud _THUMP!_

"Whuh- how…What!" I sputtered.

"Yeah," she grinned. "But, hey, don't worry, they're people who live in the area, so I'm still going to go to school with you." She got quieter and quieter as she neared the end of her statement. "I just won't be living with you anymore…"

"Oh…" was all that came out of my mouth.

There was a long pause.

"When are you leaving?" I broke the silence.

"Tonight," she sighed. "I'm so sad that I'm going to miss your seventeenth birthday tomorrow."

I glanced at her face. "You won't be missing much," I said, quietly. "I'm not celebrating this year." In fact, I'd even forgotten that tomorrow, December 11th, was my seventeenth birthday.

"Why not?"

I didn't answer. It's not like I didn't have an answer, it's just that she knew why. Seventeen years of not knowing who I was. I don't even know if December 11th is my real birthday, it's just the day I was dropped off at this hellhole.

Renee read my expression and nodded silently. "Well," she sighed. "Whether you're celebrating or not, I still got you this." She pulled a wrapped box out from behind her back.

I smiled. "Thanks…" my voice trailed off. "But-"

"No, don't you dare tell me you don't want it," Renee cut me off. "Because, Tabatha Smith, I spent all of my goddamn money on this and you better take it." She fixed a glare on me.

"Okay, fine," I replied nonchalantly, grabbing the gift.

I peeled the wrapping off slowly and opened the box. In it, contained two things: a pad of paper and a book. The pad of paper was obviously so I could write, which was one of my favourite things to do, and the book was one I've been saving up for, myself. It was called _The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls_. It was written by an old singer named Emilie Autumn who was famous in the early 2000's.

I looked up and smiled at Renee.

She held her arms open. "Permission to hug?"

I sighed. "Go ahead."

She squeezed me once again, tighter than the last time.

I pulled away again. "Okay, your hugging time is up."

Renee's brows were furrowed in a way that made her look like I just told her I was going to die in two days time. I placed the presents back in the box and set them on the bed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's just…your eyes…"

"What?" I walked over and looked in the mirror. My chocolate brown eyes seemed to be darker. Much, much darker, almost dark red. "Whoah…"

"Maybe it's just the lighting in here," Renee said.

"I suppose…"

But I knew that wasn't true. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Something that would change my life forever.

* * *

Not only was December 10th the day that Tabatha's best friend was leaving her, but it was also the day the something huge happened in Trinity Casil's life that she couldn't take back, no matter how hard she tried.

Worry has been consuming Trinity lately. Not only was tomorrow her beautiful orphaned baby girl's birthday, but something else was consuming her, killing her, even. That something was déjà vu. Terrible déjà vu that couldn't allow her to sleep at all. For every time she did, she had another dream of that mysterious name, Todd Casil. Not only that, but dreams of a women with short, blue-dyed hair, and twin boys who looked strangely alike to Xavier.

She hated the feeling. Hated it so much that it brought an awful taste to her mouth. She wanted to remember. She really did. Little did she know, remembering would not only make her weep excessively, but just might kill her in the process.

Trinity was walking home from the bookstore, hunger absorbing her. She couldn't wait to get home and eat, for she hadn't eaten since 11 PM last night.

As she made her way home, she passed a store displaying mirrors in the window. She caught a glimpse of herself, and, as she expected, she looked just awful. Her brunette hair was tangled all around and the bags under her eyes were quite large. She sighed and turned to cross the street.

Now, it could have been from the lack of sleep, or even the lack of food, but either way, Trinity did not see the drunk driver speeding toward her, and when she finally did and jumped to get out of the way, it was just a bit too late.

But please don't worry, for Trinity made it alive. In fact, the only injury of hers came from hitting her head on the ground from the jump. However, once her head connected with the ground, it resulted in fuzziness, and then blackness.

* * *

Trinity woke up. Three words she didn't think she'd hear again.

The first thing she saw was a ceiling fan, and when she turned her aching head, she saw the worried face of a man around her age.

Déjà vu struck her again, and this time it seemed to whack her in the face so hard that it made her head throb even more.

This man looked just like one of the twins in her dreams. In fact, it was almost a perfect match. The only difference was that he looked a bit older. Trinity put a hand to her throbbing head.

"Are you…okay?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she mumbled. She looked at him again. "Do…do I know you?"

"Don't think so." He gave her a crooked smile. "I would have remembered." He stuck out a hand. "My name is Damon."

Trinity pulled her hand away from her head and shook his. "Trinity."

"I found you lying there on the street and-"

"No, _I_ found her," came a female voice. A girl who also appeared to be Trinity's age walked in, her long black hair swooshing around behind her.

Damon stood up and gestured to the girl. "That's my girlfriend, Naomi."

Naomi waved. "If you're looking to her what _really_ happened," she glared at Damon, "…then allow me to tell you."

Trinity nodded, making her head throb more.

"We were walking along the street when I spotted you," Naomi said, taking a seat. "Damon thought you were dead because he's an idiot." She glared at him once again. "But I was smart enough to check your pulse before he called the nearest morgue." She laughed. "So, basically, Damon carried you here to our apartment. He's a manwhore, so I kept extra good watch on him as we walked back."

"You still think I'm a manwhore? Really, Naomi?" Damon asked. "At least I'm not a pussy like Damen."

Naomi rolled her eyes then turned back to Trinity. "Damen is his twin brother."

Trinity's head pounded terribly from her déjà vu until she couldn't take it anymore.

She stood up. "I have to go," she said. "Thank you so much, for everything, but I have to get home."

And before they could even reply, Trinity was out the door and heading home.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Tabatha."

My eyes shot open. Leaning over me was a familiar face that I never thought I'd see again.

"L-Luce!" I shot up. "What are you doing here? What time is it?" I looked at the clock next to me, it was already after 12 PM.

"I'm here to wish you happy birthday," she gave me a warm, beautiful smile.

"But…how did you know?" I asked. "And who let you in?"

"The matron," she replied, setting a present on the bedside table. "And I knew it was your birthday because I was looking for you at the library yesterday, but you weren't there. So I asked one of the employees and they said you took the day off. They said I should wait to see you today since it was going to be your birthday and that you were going through something that day."

"Oh yeah." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, my friend Renee was adopted. Yesterday was her last day here and I wanted to spend it with her, so I didn't go to work."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Luce looked at her feet.

"It's fine," I replied, getting up. "I'll see her at school, so…yeah."

"Well, then," Luce's head shot up and her smile was back. "Get dressed, because I'm taking you out."

"Okay…" I said awkwardly. "Where?"

"It's a secret." She handed me the present. "Oh, and here. This is for you."

"Thanks," I put it down. "I'll open it later."

Luce nodded then stepped out so I could get dressed. I slipped on my black jeans, cargo boots, and 'Damnbercrombie and Bitch' shirt. As I pulled on my black bolero jacket, I couldn't help but wonder why Luce was looking for me yesterday at the library. Did she want to apologize for bringing up the topic of my parents last week at the library? I didn't know.

I grabbed by black messenger bag and opened up the door with a _click_.

"Ready?" Luce beamed.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Luce grabbed my hand and began running through the hallway and down the stairs. I sighed as we plowed through the front doors and across the street to where her fancy car was parked. I could only imagine what this overexcited rich girl had in store for my birthday.

* * *

**YEY! I'M TIRED!**

**I was going to write more, but I think I'll save that for my next chapter.**

**Aren't Luce and Tabatha so cute together? And Trinity meets Damon and Naomi again! OMG! You better read the next chapter of The Last Tears Shed to know what happens! Because it won't be on SparkNotes! Because I'm not famous! Because I live in Chicago, where nothing happens! Except the Chicago Fire, but I wasn't alive for that!**

**Luv ya lots!**

**~Nikki-sama**


	6. The Past

"Ready for your big surprise?"

"That's what you said three surprises ago."

I was leaning my head on the window of Luce's car as she drove. So far, she took me to breakfast, the mall, and a walk through the city, which wasn't so pleasant because I had to fight off a group of guys who tried to pick us up. I think I'll become an agoraphobic.

"Well, this is the highlight of your birthday, so I guess it's the ultimate surprise," Luce beamed.

"Can't wait," I replied monotonously.

* * *

"Ready?" Luce asked excitedly.

"I've been ready since this morning," I replied.

"Okay, open your eyes."

I did as I was told, and as I did, I could never have been happier that I came. I was standing before the most beautiful view I have ever seen.

It was an overlook where you could see everything, and I mean _everything_. It felt like you were watching the world as you ran across it while standing completely still. The feeling was so amazing, it could hardly be put into words. And the sunset made it all the more beautiful.

"I've been coming here every since I was five to clear my thoughts," Luce said. "I got angry with my parents one day and ran off. I eventually found myself here."

"Luce, it's beautiful." My words came out slow and sweet, like honey being poured.

"You're the only other person who knows about it, so don't tell anyone, 'kay?" Luce grinned.

I nodded.

"No one comes here anymore except for me." Her tone grew sad.

"Why's that?"

Luce stared into the sunset. "Well, they say a long while ago, two teenagers committed suicide by jumping off the cliff." She sat down in the grass. "When someone finally found the bodies, he ran off to tell someone, but when they came back, the bodies were gone."

I took a seat next to her in the grass. "What happened to them?"

"No one knows," Luce replied. "So now everyone thinks that it's haunted or some crap like that."

I sighed. "Everyone in the world is an idiot."

Luce giggled. "Maybe we're idiots too and we just don't know it."

"Then is there any true smart person in the world?" I asked. "I mean, are we all just incompetent?"

"We're human," Luce replied. "That's for sure."

I leaned back and shut my eyes. "That's the last thing I want to be."

"Why's that?"

I opened my eyes to find Luce leaning over me, curiosity written all across her face. I sat up. "It's kind of a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Duh," Luce laughed.

"Okay," I sighed. "The reason I hate humans is because I hate human qualities. The biggest one being excluding people who are different." Luce nodded, so I went on. "I came to realize this when I was seven, and I was about to be adopted for the first time…"

* * *

Young Tabatha, now seven years old, peered her head around the corner when the matron of the house called her name.

"Tabatha!"

"Yes?" she replied in a small, meek voice.

"You have an interview."

Tabatha looked at her feet with distinct sadness in her eyes. The reason being that this was her fourth interview this month, and no one wanted her. She decided that she hated the world if people think they can just reject and go through children like their clothes at a store. She knew a fourth time wouldn't make a difference; no one loved her, and no one would. She knew she would die alone, and she came to accept that very calmly.

She inhaled deeply as she walked into the interview room that she had seen so many times and sat in the black chair that she had sat in so many times.

She picked up her head and looked at a man sitting in the chair across from her and managed to pull a weak smile.

"Hello," she said in almost a whisper.

"Hi, Tabatha," the man replied. "My name's Damen Diablo."

Tabatha nodded. "Hello, Mr. Diablo."

"My partner couldn't be here today, because he's working," Damen replied. "His name is Kenneth."

Now Tabatha, being only seven years old at the time, was a bit confused by this bit of information. On television, she also saw a relationship between a male and a female, never the same gender. Therefore, she never even considered the possibility that two of the same gender could be in a relationship.

Either way, this made Damen seem a lot more interesting to Tabatha, and perked her up a little bit, thinking of the possibility of have two dads instead of a mom and a dad.

The interview went on and Tabatha learned a lot about Damen, but more so, Damen learned a lot about Tabatha. When she first walked in, he thought she looked familiar. In fact, he was almost certain that he'd seen her face before, but only her face and black hair. The feeling was quite strong and aggravated him a bit until he decided to ignore it and just move along with the interview.

In the end, Tabatha felt very good about how the interview went and walked out with a feeling she had never felt before. She felt confident, something that had never come out of an interview before. In fact, she had never felt confident before in her life, _ever_. The feeling was new and pleasurable, and made her unbelievably happy.

That night, when she found out she was going to be adopted, she became ecstatic. She began packing her bags and talking nonstop to Renee about how wonderful it would be. She stared at the clock almost all night and couldn't wait until the next day, when she'd rush out of bed to her new family and live happily ever after.

But this was no fairy tale.

She woke up the next morning to the most horrible news. She wasn't being adopted after all.

She begged the matron to tell her why, and that night, she sat down with the matron and had a talk about homosexuality and why it wasn't accepted here.

Tabatha told the matron she understood, when she didn't understand at all. She went back to being her quiet self and spent a good part of her life not understanding.

But now she understands. She understands why the human race doesn't accept difference in the world. It's because they're afraid. The human race is afraid of change. They're afraid of losing control on the world by letting people who are different be apart of it. Tabatha never again spoke the Pledge of Allegiance, for there was definitely not "liberty and justice for all".

And there will never be unless the human race can change.

* * *

Luce looked up at the now starry sky. "Wow…"

"Yep…"

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Tabatha spoke up. "We should probably get going. The matron is going to be wondering where I am."

Luce got up slowly and got into the car without a word.

And they drove in silence.

* * *

**Sorry about that speech-type thing in the middle. Just a few of my true thoughts on society.**

**OMG! SO MUCH IS ACTUALLY EXPLAINED! THAT'S NEW!**

**Tabatha was going to be adopted by Damen and Kenneth AND Luce and Tabatha go to the spot where Trinity and Xavier "died". Wow, that sentence had a lot of "ands".**

**Please review and I will give you a real artificial (is that an oxymoron?) autographed picture of Jhonen Vasquez eating a tomato in a dress. By the way, the tomato's in a dress…not Jhonen. That would be…awkward.**

**AND YES! IT IS ARTIFICIAL! SO BUY NOW!**

**Until next time,**

**~Nikki-sama**

**(PS: Bria, I wanted to get this up tonight because I'm a bit busy for the rest of the weekend. Could you beta and PM it to me? And, OMG! DID YOU SEE THE NEW DOCTOR WHO TONIGHT! I told you that you were going to be surprised in the end!)**


	7. The Spark

Trinity opened the door to her apartment to see Xavier sitting on the couch surrounded by charcoal and papers.

"I thought you were just going to get a book," he said without even looking up from his drawing. "What took so long?"

"Oh, it was nothing." She set her keys down on a nearby table. "It just took a while to find the right book and-"

"You're lying." Xavier looked up at her. "Your voice always cracks when you lie. Plus," he pointed to Trinity's empty hands, "where's the book?"

Trinity cursed under her breath. "Look, don't overreact, okay? I was crossing street to head home but this car was speeding by and I didn't see it and-"

"Oh my god," Xavier got up and walked over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, shooing him away. "It's just a bruise."

"Okay," Xavier said, backing off. "So what happened after that?"

Trinity opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. She got up to answer it.

It was Naomi.

"Hello again," Naomi waved.

"Um, hi?"

Naomi thrust a book towards Trinity. "I believe you forgot this."

Trinity took the book from her hands. "Um, thanks." She looked Naomi in the eye. "How did you find out where I live?"

"Oh." Naomi pulled a bag out from behind her back. "You left your bag at our place, too. It had your ID in it so I just…well, I think you get it."

Trinity took the bag from the girl's hands. "Thank you."

Naomi nodded. "Well, I better get back. Damon's waiting for me." She turned to walk away, but turned back quickly. "It was nice meeting you, Trinity."

Trinity smiled and closed the door as Naomi walked off.

She turned and saw Xavier back on the couch, an eyebrow raised. Trinity sighed, sat down, and began to explain.

* * *

"Thanks for driving me," I said to Luce as she dropped me off at the orphanage. "I had fun today."

"Me too." Luce smiled.

I nodded and turned to head up the stairs.

"Oh, Tabatha."

I turned.

"Happy birthday."

* * *

Fire burned so hot it was hard to breathe.

I tried to find my way through the thick smoke, but I couldn't tell up from down. My eyes began to sting and my lungs were filled with smoke. I started running, keeping my eyes closed and my head down.

After what seemed like hours of running, I realized something was wrong. My throat didn't burn anymore. The air was…fresh and clean.

I snapped open my eyes.

I was floating. Flying, even.

Black, jagged wings outstretched from my back and lifted me higher with each flap. Looking out to the sky, I realized it was endless. So bright and welcoming…

I hated it.

I wanted to destroy it.

After that, I…I don't know what happened. I lost myself. The real Tabatha was gone and some demon alter-ego had taken her over. She was destroying _everything_ and I couldn't do anything but watch.

I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I began to cry silently, continuing to watch the monstrosity that was me destroy the world.

There was nothing I could do.

I woke up with a shriek.

"Renee!" I turned my head to the empty bed.

_Oh yeah…_ I thought.

"Tabatha." There was a knock at the door. The voice was Miss Jennie's, one of the women who worked at the orphanage. She opened the door and poked her head in. "I heard a scream. Anything wrong?"

"No…" I looked away at the mirror with hollow eyes. As I stared back at my tired self, I couldn't help but wonder if I was the reflection and she was the real Tabatha. If she was the truth and I was a lie.

"Well, it's time to go downstairs for breakfast," Miss Jennie stated after a long, awkward pause. She walked back down the hall, shutting the door behind her.

I got up and grabbed a black veil I bought from a thrift store once. I looked at myself in the large rectangular mirror sitting atop the dresser one more time, and threw the black veil over it.

Until I could get my life straightened out again, I wouldn't look at myself. I couldn't stomach it.

I couldn't stand to look at a lie.

* * *

Luce had visited Tabatha at the library every day she worked. During Tabatha's break, they'd sit down and talk until Luce had to go home.

Tabatha found that she told Luce everything. Things that she swore she'd never tell anyone. All her thoughts, feelings, ideas, and Luce listened to all of them and _understood_. No one had understood Tabatha before. No one.

Luce told Tabatha a lot too. How no one in her family understood her and her actions. They were snooty, the regular stereotypical rich family. Always wanting her to do her best and not waste her time daydreaming.

Tabatha also understood.

Until one particular visit that sparked the beginning of something huge came along. It was something that would change Tabatha's life forever.

But especially Luce's.

Neither of them would have seen it coming, And one of them would move on with life carrying a burden bigger than any teenage girl should have to carry.

Luce sat down at the smallest of the library's tables and Tabatha sat across from her.

Luce was the one to start the conversation. "Hey, you know there's a lunar eclipse happening this weekend."

"Is there?"

"Yup." Luce nodded, her face beaming. "You want to meet at the overlook Saturday night to watch it? I hear it's going to be the best one since…ever!"

"And why's that?" Tabatha asked.

Luce's smile grew bigger. "Because it's the first one I'm going to see with my best friend."

Tabatha was shocked by the way Luce said "best friend". It spread warmth throughout her body, and made her smile too. She nodded in agreement. "I'm there."

Luce squealed in excitement. "I can't wait!" She looked at her watch. "Oh, I have to leave early today. My mom needs help with some yard work or something."

"Alright." Tabatha stood up to get back to work.

"Bye." Luce waved on her way out.

And thus, the spark was lit.

* * *

**bLuBbLuBbLuB!**

**That's Nikkinese for "FML! I HAVE MUTHERFUCKING WRITER'S BLOCK!"**

**Which is why this chapter is short.**

**But, now that this chapter is over with, it's time to introduce that magical thing that most of my stories lack.**

**THE PLOT!**

**And trust me, it's a good one.**

**Like, when I had the idea I was like, "HOLY PHUCK I'M A PHUCKING GENIUS! I'M GOING TO WIN A NOBEL PRIZE FOR HOW PHUCKING AWESOME-FUL-ICIOUSLY-TASTICAL-ARIFIC THIS IDEA IS!"**

**Phuck is a bad word, kids. (Tehe, I've become obsessed with OlgaKay videos.)**

**Okay, please review and all that magical stuff. I'm gonna go milk a unicorn.**

**WHO WANTS UNICORN JUICE?**

**~Nikki-sama**


	8. The Beginning

"You wanna hang out this Saturday?" Renee asked as I closed my locker.

"Can't," I replied. "I'm meeting up with Luce to watch the lunar eclipse."

"Luce?" Renee tested out the name as if it were in some foreign language. "You mean the girl from the library?"

"That's the one," I replied, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and heading to class. Renee followed suit, even though she wasn't in my fifth period class.

"Well, don't get too close, cuz I don't want anyone stealing the position of your best friend while I'm not looking." She was kidding of course.

Then I stopped.

"_I hear it's going to be the best one since…ever!"_

"_And why's that?"_

"_Because it's the first one I'm going to see with my best friend."_

I froze, looking down at my feet.

Renee stopped. "Tabatha? What's wrong?"

I snapped out of my trans and turned to Renee. "Oh, nothing. Sorry."

With that, the conversation was over.

* * *

Getting ready to go out with a friend is really hard to do without looking in the mirror, but I stood by my word that I wouldn't take the veil down until I sorted my problems out. Of course, I had a little help putting on eyeliner with a small eye makeup mirror.

I pulled on an oversized thick, black sweatshirt and slipped on my hightops. Smoothing out my long black hair and walking out the door, I realized I left the window in my room open. I walked back in to close it, but just as I did, I noticed something.

The sunset.

I've never really looked and thought about it too much, but now I realize how remarkable it is, and it happens _every day_. I smiled and shut the window. I had a feeling things were going to get better.

I could never have been so wrong.

* * *

Trinity stared deeply into the sunset and sighed. Somehow, it reminded her of Tabatha. She had been on Trinity's mind a lot lately. She just couldn't help wondering how Tabatha was doing.

"What're you doing?"

Xavier's voice startled Trinity at first, but she finally turned to see him sitting on the couch, inviting her to sit next to him.

She sat down on the couch and leaned her head on Xavier's shoulder. Sighing, she finally worked up the courage to ask. "How do you think Tabatha is doing?"

Xavier thought for a moment, pondering the thought. "I don't know." He smiled. "But I'm sure she's doing fine."

"Yeah…" Trinity said after a long period of silence. "Yeah, I guess so."

That night, Trinity sat on the couch with her laptop. She kept having those dreams again about that name, Todd Casil. She wanted to do some research on it and see if she could get down to the bottom of her suspicions.

Xavier walked in the room and sat across from her.

"Xavier," Trinity said, looking up from the computer. "I've been doing research on that guy, Todd Casil."

"And?"

"Apparently there's an author who lives a few towns over named Todd Casil," she replied, scrolling down the page on her laptop. "He wrote some book called 'The Scary Neighbor Man'."

"Is there any way you could have possibly met him somewhere and forgot?" Xavier asked.

"Maybe." Trinity looked up. "Or maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe I'm going insane."

Xavier laughed. "Everyone's a little bit insane."

Trinity leaned over and gave Xavier a kiss. "Thank god."

* * *

"So when's this thing supposed to start?" I asked.

"Soon," Luce replied, her breath fogging in the winds of late December.

We were sitting on the hood of Luce's car parked at the overlook. Most people in the town below had their lights turned off to see the eclipse better, so the stars of the night shone brighter than I had ever known them to.

"Well I'm freezing my ass off, so this eclipse thing better happen soon," I muttered.

"Oh." Luce snapped her fingers and went around to the trunk of her car.

"What is it?"

She opened the trunk and pulled out a wool blanket. "I always keep one in the back just in case."

"Well bring it over here before my limbs fall off," I laughed.

Luce returned the laugh and climbed back onto the hood of the black car, throwing the blanket over the both of us.

"Better?" she asked.

"So much."

So we sat there, talking and waiting for the eclipse to begin. I told her about life growing up without parents, and she tried to convince me I was better off, because hers were beyond strict. I was about to tell a story from my childhood when I ran away from my first family, when Luce tapped violently on my shoulder and pointed to the sky. "Oh! Look! Look, Tabatha!"

I turned toward the sky and watched as the moon darkened until it turned almost pinkish. Luce sat next to me, "Ooh-ing" and "Ahh-ing", but I remained silent. Much like the sunset, it was the single most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and just like that it was over.

Luce grabbed me by the shoulders. "Wasn't that amazing?"

I smiled. "It was." It truly was.

For a while we just sat there, Luce clinging to my shoulder and me spacing out. I couldn't help remembering the image, the colour of the moon before it went dark. I was truly spaced out completely.

Which it why I was caught off guard when Luce kissed me.

The first thing that went through my mind was, 'This is nice.' Then I realized what was going on. I pulled back quickly and stared at Luce in shock.

"Wh-whuh…" was all that came out of my mouth.

Luce seemed to snap back as well, her eyes widening beyond belief. "Tabatha. I-I didn't mean to-"

"I have to go."

With that, I was speeding home with Luce calling behind me, "Tabatha! Wait!"

_What the hell just happened?_

* * *

I bolted straight to my room and locked the door shut behind me. I began pacing like crazy, something I do when I need to sort out my thoughts.

I just couldn't get my thoughts straight. _Why would Luce kiss me? It's just not right. We're only friends._

I began pacing too fast and ended up tripping and landing face first onto the carpeted floor. Something in front of me caught my attention, though. A box.

It was the birthday present Luce gave me. I never opened it.

I sat up, grabbed the box, and leaned against the bed, beginning to unwrap it. Then I started to rethink.

_I probably shouldn't. Not now._

But then I started to think it over again.

_Why not? It's not going to change anything if I open it now._

So I sat there for probably thirty minutes or so, a half-unwrapped box in my hands and whirling thoughts still going through my head. Eventually, I gave in and opened the box.

It was a necklace. A diamond necklace. I turned it over in my hands a few times and saw that my name was engraved on the back of it in italicized letters.

My jaw dropped open and my thoughts began to whirl again. How much did this thing cost? I shook my head. I had to return it to her...but that would mean seeing Luce again, face-to-face. I didn't know if I could handle that right now.

_This is stupid_, I thought. _I have to suck it up and return the necklace._

I also wanted to apologize for running off. That was pretty stupid of me.

But now, I wish I could take it back. I wish I would've stayed away from Luce after that. But I didn't, and that changed my life forever.

* * *

**Hurray, it's over!**

**So I'm updating kind of early because I've been getting tons of inspiration to write from watching the new season of Degrassi. I know, I'm such a fangirl, I can't help it. **

**But beside the point. OMFG! LUCE AND TABATHA KISSED! (fangirlish scream)**

**So then, please, please, PLEASE review and let me know how I'm doing on this. I have TONS of ideas that are going into this story and it is seriously AMAZING! Like, this is only the beginning of my explosion of ideas.**

**Until next time, I bid you good marrow!**

**~Nikki-sama**


	9. The Truth

There's a lot in this world that cannot be explained. So much that it makes me wonder why humans don't question the world as much as they should.

For instance, all this "God loves us and would never hurt us" crap. If someone really loved you, they would do anything to make damn sure you never got hurt or in trouble. Yet, this world is nothing but trouble.

I'm sorry, do I sound angry? I don't mean to. It's just that this is getting to be the part of my story that impacted my life so much. Too much.

I wish God loved me. Maybe none of this would have happened then, but I guess it's not my fault that I am who I am.

A few girls at school used to call me the "spawn of the devil".

I just didn't know it was true.

* * *

Oh, the pits of Hell? They're doing fine, thanks for asking.

You see, I'll be taking over this portion of the story today, considering I am a great cause of the stress that has been inflicting my great granddaughter lately. So, let's see, where to begin?

Well, you should start off by knowing who I am, I suppose. Though, if you don't know already, you either are completely unaware of what this tale is about, or you could very well just be stupid. No matter, I'll inform you anyway. I happen to be Señor Diablo, or you may better know me as The Devil, or Satan.

There, now that we have introductions out of the way, allow me to explain to you that I did what I did because I had no other choice. I'm sure you haven't forgotten many…human years ago when I took away the Anti-Christ in my son, Pepito, and yadda, yadda, yadda. You know how it goes, yes?

Well, you see, all I needed was a new Anti-Christ, that's it. Unfortunately, it couldn't be Xavier, considering it could very well tamper with … eh… "new life" inflicted upon him. You see, Tabatha was the only choice, so I simply…had to.

Now, I don't want you to start going about thinking that I've "ruined the poor girl's life", and "she's been stressed enough", and all that human drama. I'm not trying to be the evil one here. I'm simply doing what has to be done.

So go on. Accuse me. Call me a "horrible creature", I don't mind.

But do keep in mind; I may very well see you in Hell one day.

* * *

I texted Luce the next morning, asking her if she would meet up with me around five o'clock when both of our schools were out. She replied almost instantly with a "For sure". I guess she wasn't as apprehensive as I was about what happened the night of the eclipse.

Either way, that morning, I felt like crap.

I passed on breakfast, as I thought I wouldn't be able to stomach it with all the pressure that's been inflicted upon me lately. All I really wanted was to breathe, and not have to worry anymore.

Anyway, something strange happened when I got to school that morning. My thoughts were still whirling, and my stomach was still churning, and I guess it just became too much for me.

It happened when I walked into homeroom and sat down in my desk, right next to Renee. She smiled at me, and I smiled back of course, until my stomach churning became more violent. The pain was something unheard of; completely indescribable. I put my head down and tried to concentrate on easing the pain, but all I heard were the noises around me.

Suddenly, the noises were gone.

Well, they weren't gone, exactly, but they were more…vibrant, I suppose. Then the static came. I heard a loud static in my head and it was right then when I just knew I was going to vomit.

Stumbling out of the classroom, I began to stagger down the hallway to the restroom, as I had become horribly disoriented, and thought I remembered bumping into someone who pushed me away. Either way, I was losing the sight in my eyes, as my vision was getting blurry.

Well, no, not exactly blurry. More like that experience, when you first wake up in the morning and you can't really see, until your brain is no longer fuzzy. That's exactly what it was like, actually.

My newly found disorientation proved to be displeasing, as I made my way to the restroom and ended up tripping on the doorframe and falling to the floor.

I relaxed, actually, once I hit that cold, hard floor. 'I'm…really tired…' I thought, as I closed my eyes and blacked out.

The last thing I heard was Renee's familiar voice, shouting for a teacher to come help. I suppose…she followed me.

Anyway, the next thing I know, a teacher—I didn't bother to open my eyes to see who—was leaning over me and asking me questions. Things like, "What happened?" and "Did you eat breakfast this morning?". I gave soft, muffled replied, and remember asking a mumbled question if I could get back to class because I felt better, but the nurse hoisted me up and helped me limp awkwardly to her office, considering I scraped both my knees on my tumble down, and it seriously hurt like a bitch.

Although, I was wide awake when she helped me sit on the blue little bed in her office. She handed me food, like a granola bar and water, and instructed me to eat it. I consumed the food as I explained to her the story of what had happened, told her I had skipped breakfast that morning, and sat through a phone conversation with the orphanage.

I got to stay at school (lucky me), and got a pass to get out of gym class.

The whole ordeal was a bit weird to think about, but what was even weirder was when I walked into the restroom again to see if I was totally pale or not (I wasn't, by the way. Good thing. I would've looked dead).

When I looked into that mirror, I certainly saw my reflection, but I didn't see me. I didn't see _Tabatha_. My eyes. They were fully a bright, vibrant red. The colour of blood before it dries. My eyeteeth. They were pointed and sharp, and could most likely cut through skin. I realized it made me look like a vampire. I looked down at my hands and saw that the nails were both fully black, and no longer completely chipped up.

'That's so weird', I thought. 'I don't remember repainting them.'

However, this last newly discovered feature was what really tipped me off my rocker. I ran my hand through my hair and felt something strange, something pointed. Tipping down my head to get a closer look, I saw it clearly.

I had fucking horns.

* * *

Something was wrong, so, horribly wrong. I had to be dreaming, I just _had _to.

It happened suddenly when I was pacing violently back and forth, still inside the school restroom. I caught a glimpse of smoke. Then it turned into a large swirl of smoke. Then, he appeared before me.

He was tall, very tall. He looked quite old, and bony. He was very skinny with black nails like my newly acquired ones, a set of horns, deep red eyes, and when he smiled, I could see his pointed eyeteeth as well.

"Well, don't look so frightened." His voice was deep and rumbly. "It's not every day your 'long-lost great grandfather' visits you, is it?"

I must have had the stupidest, most frightened look on my face in the world. I fell back against the wall and stared, not even daring to blink. I tried to say something, but absolutely nothing came out of my mouth.

"You're probably extremely shocked. I don't blame you." The old man smirked. "I get that look a lot."

Still, nothing came out of my fully opened mouth.

"You're probably looking for an explanation, aren't you?" he asked, very calmly. "Alright, then. First of all, the thought probably crossed your mind already, but yes, I am Satan. Oh yes, and you." He made a gesture towards me. "You are indeed my great granddaughter."

I swallowed deep and managed to get the words out. "I-I'm your…what?"

"My great granddaughter," the devil replied with a snicker. "You are Tabatha Diablo, are you not? Daughter of Xavier Diablo and Trinity Casil?"

So many questions were spinning through my mind, but I could barely sputter them out. "W-well, I mean, y-yes. I'm Tabatha. B-but I didn't really know my last name was D-Diablo."

"Ah, yes." A sudden realization seemed to creep over the devil's face. "They left you in an orphanage. How could I have forgotten?" He turned back to face me. "Well then, allow me to teach you a little family history."

"F-family history?"

"Yes," Satan replied. "You see, you're father, Xavier Diablo, was the son of my son, Pepito Diablo-"

"W-what do you mean 'was'?" I interrupted.

"Oh, believe me, that's a _long_ story." Satan grinned. "Now, your mother, Trinity Casil, was the daughter of our last Waste Lock, Destiny Freeman. This whole ordeal screwed up Fate enough before-"

"No, really," I cut him off again, growing a little more confident. "I'm lost."

He frowned. "You know, this really _is_ quite hard to explain. Allow me to help speed things up a bit."

The devil moved closer and touched a bony finger to my forehead. At first, nothing happened. Then, the images came.

I saw images of a girl with black hair and red stripes, a boy with the same horns and red eyes that I've acquired, a tall girl with black hair and emerald green eyes, and a boy with brown hair and scared, brown eyes. I saw murder and pain, but at the same time, I saw happiness and satisfaction. I witnessed the birth of a young boy with the cutest black fuzz atop his head, and I saw the growing of a young girl with long brown hair who always wore the biggest grin on her face. I saw image after image of the strange story that was being played out in front of me until one captured my attention fully; a man with black hair, and a woman, the one with the long brown hair. Only this time, she didn't wear a smile upon her face. She was crying, in fact, and I knew why. In her hands, she held a small child with large brown eyes, who I could instantly identify as myself. Tabatha Diablo.

Suddenly, it all stopped. I was back in the girl's restroom with the devil himself standing in front of me. The same scene as before. Only this time, I understood everything.

Satan stepped back and looked back at me. "Do you understand now?"

I nodded. I knew the entire story. Every detail, as if I was actually there.

I stood up, finally. "So why did you come here?" I didn't dare to look him in the eye, so I set my gaze just past him, staring at the door with hollow red eyes.

"To explain to you why all of this," he gestured toward me, "was happening."

I nodded, signaling for him to go on, even though I already knew what was coming.

"You know now that many years ago, I simply had to take away the Anti-Christ in my son," Satan explained. "You also know now that the new Anti-Christ cannot be his son, Xavier, your father."

I nodded, indicating that I did, indeed, understand.

"Which is why it has to be you, Tabatha."

That was when I snapped. When I thought I had surely gone insane. On the outside, I remained solemn, but the inside was hectic. My thoughts were scattered everywhere, my worries were increasing, my heart was racing, and my stomach was churning.

I sank back to the floor, having absolutely nothing to say, and buried my face in my hands, getting ready for a few tears to fall, but nothing came, so I just looked up, and stared ahead.

"Don't act so upset," the devil smirked. "It _is_ a magnificent job. You'll see soon enough what comes with it." I didn't respond, so he continued. "Well, I'll be visiting again soon enough. Until then, I'll leave you to get back to class."

With that, he was gone in a puff of smoke, and I was left staring at a blank wall. My thoughts began to whirl rapidly once more.

* * *

**So before I go on with my end of the chapter author's note, I'd like to thank Dirge (her new username is Rainbow Hipster and you have to go subscribe to her NOW) for this beautiful new plot point involving Tabatha being the next Anti-Christ. **

**Also, I'd like to add that any religious views expressed in this story are that of my character's and not my own.**

**Now then, please review, because I'm not going to update unless I get at least five reviews. Dirge and Bria don't count.**

**Until then, I bid you ADO!**

**~Nikki**


	10. The Brown Eyes

'_Get up, Tabatha.'_

I heard my own voice ringing in my ears as I sat there on the cold, cracked floor of my school bathroom.

_'You gotta go to class…'_

Suddenly the voice was Renee's. Then, it shifted once more.

_'You have to get up!'_

Now it was Luce's. With her voice, I also saw her face. Her light blond hair, warm eyes, her-

Luce…Luce! I completely forgot about meeting up with her at five. I probably would've gone home and left her there in the cold. I felt so stupid, so weak, so…tired. Yes, that's it. I was tired. I felt like passing out again. More than anything, I wanted to go home and sleep until my life was over. Until I was ready to die and go live with my grandfather in Hell.

Slowly, I pulled myself up, glancing over at the nearby clock. 3:15. School would let out soon and I would have to go see Luce at the overlook. I would have to apologize and return the necklace to her.

I shook off the wild thoughts and nervous feelings and crept over to the mirror to see if there was any special way I could part my hair so that my newly-acquired horns wouldn't show. Unfortunately, I had no such luck.

I glanced at the clock once more. I was supposed to be at my last period class now. History. Nevertheless, I forced myself to march out that door and into class for its final fifteen minutes.

I walked in on a lecture about the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima barely being noticed. People were so half-asleep that seldom paid attention to me as I walked through the door. But Renee did.

As soon as I sat down, she passed me a note.

"Where have you been?"

I wrote back in the laziest handwriting I could, "Too much to write down. I'll call you after school."

She gave me a quick nod upon seeing the note. I turned back around and listened to the monotonous voice of our history teacher with a Polish name that I can barely pronounce. The clock told me that there was only five minutes left of class and I could barely hold on any longer. Those five minutes felt like five hours.

When the bell finally rang I let out a deep sigh and stood up to speed out of the classroom. My hands were so sweaty that they slipped off the doorknob once or twice before I could finally get it open. Once I did manage to get it open, however, I glanced back and Renee, giving an apologetic smile, and dashed out fast.

* * *

Throwing my backpack to the floor, I sat down on the bed and kicked off my shoes. I didn't know why I ran all the way home. My thoughts were so bewildered that I suppose I just needed a long run. It made me feel strangely better.

However, it was getting late and I didn't want to look like a sweaty pig when I left to go meet Luce. So I sat up and began to peel off my layers, one by one.

Spring was coming, but the winter didn't want to leave. The temperature outside was in the lower thirties, so I pulled on my oversized black sweater over my striped orange and black t-shirt. I started to run a brush though my hair before it got caught on one of my abnormal horns.

"Tch…" I spat, remembering the events that took place this afternoon in the girl's restroom. I then realized that I didn't want Luce to find out about any of this. I needed to cover these protruding things somehow.

I looked all over the room, but I wasn't one for wearing hats. Glancing under the bed, I saw an orange beanie that I remembered belonged to Renee. She must have left it behind when she left the orphanage. I figured it would be better than having Luce gawk all night and freak out at the awkward-looking horns atop my head.

I wished I would've had time to make myself look a bit more presentable, but it was already 4:45 and I didn't want Luce to think I was going to blow her off. So, I grabbed some money for the bus ride and set foot out the door.

* * *

Luce locked the door behind her as she stepped inside her pink and white themed bedroom. She smiled to herself, thinking about how she was going to see Tabatha again tonight. How they were going to make up and become friends again. Luce never wanted to lose Tabatha's friendship, and she'd give her life to protect it.

Not wanting to appear before Tabatha that night in her school uniform, she stripped down and dug through her dresser to find the perfect thing to wear. She didn't know why she wanted to impress Tabatha so. She just knew that she had to. Perhaps to save their friendship. Perhaps for something more…

Nevertheless, she slipped into a pair of white jeans and a pink long-sleeved sweater that could most likely pass for a dress. She pulled her hair out of its long ponytail and combed it out until it was straight and perfectly evened out on both sides. She fixed her make-up and took a long, hard look in the mirror. Smiling at the reflection, she realized it was getting late, and scrambled to grab her keys and head out the door.

* * *

"You're here rather early."

I turned around just as Luce parked her car and stepped out. The wind blew threw her soft, blond hair, which made the beauty look even more astonishing in the late afternoon. She walked over and gave me a hug. Surprisingly, my muscles didn't tense up like they usually do when people try to have physical contact with me. Though, I didn't hug back.

I smiled. "It's good to see you too."

Returning the smile, she stepped back. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Suddenly, I remembered the reason why I called Luce over here, and coughed. "I…um…first wanted to apologize to you about the way I acted last time we were here. I didn't mean to, I was just…startled."

Luce blushed a rose-colored blush and fidgeted a bit. "N-no, it's my fault. Something just came over me, I didn't know what I was thinking. S-sorry."

I nodded. "I-it's alright."

There was great tension between us before I pulled the box containing the necklace out from behind my back. "There's also this."

Luce eyed the box before realizing it was the necklace she gave me for my birthday. "Oh, your birthday present? What about it?"

"I…I can't accept it," I said quietly. "Believe me, it's beautiful and I love it, but it's just so expensive and-"

Luce stepped forward and put her hands on mine, enclosing my fingers around the box. "It's yours. It's for you."

I swallowed and looked up at her face. She really was beautiful, and I felt like I needed to catch myself before I fell hard. She grabbed the box from my hands and gently placed it in my pocket before looking up at my face as well.

"What happened to your eyes?" She asked, placing a hand on my cheek. "They used to be so brown and cute. Now they're a deep red, so vibrant and beautiful."

I didn't know what to say besides, "I don't know…thank you, though."

My heart thumped insanely loud and quick in my chest, I felt like it was going to burst. I needed to slow it down. I needed to do something. So I brushed the blond hair away from Luce's face, and kissed her gently.

She didn't seem surprised at all, and kissed back the moment I laid my lips on hers. It was so real. Something that I've never felt with any guy before. The whole thing felt so beautiful, it made me want to cry and I didn't know why.

Suddenly, the beauty turned into passion, and I got a bit more comfortable with the feel. I kissed her harder, and, again, she just went with it, as if she was shadowing my actions. My thoughts flared and I never wanted to let go.

Until I felt the wave of heat.

I let go and glanced over Luce's shoulder, gasping at what I saw. She turned around as well, mimicking my actions.

The entire forest behind us was engulfed in large flames that produced a choking smoke that filled my lungs and made my eyes water. I panicked. How did this happen? How are we going to make it out alive?

Luce shouted, "How-what…Tabatha!"

I felt like shouting myself. The whole sight was making me begin to hyperventilate, which was difficult in the smoke-covered air.

My eyes and throat burned as I backed away slowly from the raging fire. I vaguely remember Luce shouting to watch where I was going and beckoning me back to where she was. But I wasn't listening.

Not until Luce screamed into the sunset, "Tabatha!", and I suddenly realized why, too.

I had backed up too far and plummeted off the edge of the cliff.

* * *

**Were the characters speaking a bit too proper in this chapter? Let me know, because I've been reading and watching and fangirling over Black Butler in the past two months or so, and my friends are telling me that I'm starting to talk like it, too. Haha, I'm weird.**

**So, I don't know if anyone reads my other JTHM story, "Claire", but I recently put up an author's note explaining how when I'm done with this story, I'm switching all work over to my new account, Sweet Effervescence. So, I'm going to be updating this weekly now. Yay!**

**Please review or some shit because I'm working hard here! Just kidding, I'm a lazy ass.**

**Thanks much! And remember to pray for Tabatha and see what'll happen to her next week. She has to live, because she's the main character, though, right?**

…**or does she?**

**(Epic foreshadowing is epic)**

**~Nikki**


	11. The Goodbyes

"Will the bailiff please read the charges?"

"The People v. Smith Case—Miss Tabatha Smith is under conviction of the murder of Lucinda Edmunds that took place the evening of January 16th at the Overlook in front of Lone Isle Forest."

I bit my lip and squeezed it until I tasted blood. My sweaty hands fiddled with the hem of my black dress. I felt like I was going to vomit. How could this have happened? What did I do wrong?

The memory was still a bit fuzzy.

* * *

My eyelids peeked open, only to be greeted by a blinding, fluorescent white light, to which I immediately shut them tight again. Seconds later, they fluttered open once more, adjusting a bit, but still aching.

I turned, but that's when I realized my whole body was aching. Arms, legs, everything felt beaten and painful. I moaned softly.

"My Lord, I think she's waking up."

I knew that shrill voice.

"Really? Is she okay?"

I knew that familiar one as well.

"Calm down, she's coming to. Let her adjust."

That welcoming voice I knew anywhere.

But out of all these familiar voices I heard, the one I wanted to hear the most—the sweet, soft and beautiful one—never came.

I used all my strength to sit up and look around. Pain shot through every inch of my body, and I moaned once more.

"Oh my stars, Tabatha, are you alright?"

Miss Hannah, a woman who had been working at the orphanage since before I was born, ran over to the edge of the little white bed I was laying in. Looking around, I realized I was in a hospital. Panic surged through me as I tried to find my words.

Miss Jennie was there as well. She approached the bed and laid a soft gaze upon me, then looking over at Miss Hannah. "Of course she's not alright, Hannah, she tumbled off a cliff!"

A cliff. That's right, I fell off of a cliff.

Renee rushed over to hug me, delivering more pain in the process. As I groaned, she backed away and said, "Sorry. I was so scared, is all. I thought I lost you in the fire."

The fire? Oh, that's right. There was a huge fire and-

I clutched a hand to my heart as the memories from that night flooded back to me. The fire, the smoke, the terror, and Luce.

I turned toward the three. "W-What happened?"

They all glanced at each other a moment. Miss Hannah began.

"There was a huge fire in Lone Isle Forest," she said. "All we know is that you tumbled over the edge of the cliff and was found lying there."

"We thought you were dead!" Renee choked up.

"Renee, sweetie. Will you and Hannah step outside for a moment so I can talk to Tabatha alone?" Miss Jennie asked with a smile.

Renee nodded and walked outside the room along with Miss Hannah. Miss Jennie approached me, her smile quickly fading.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Tabatha," she said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "The police thought this was a suicide mission."

"Suicide…" I choked. "Suicide mission? But that would imply that I was trying to complete a task or something."

"I know." She cleared her throat. "You were with a friend, yes?"

I nodded rapidly, which brought on a small headache.

"Do you need some water or anything?" She was beating around the bush.

"Miss Jennie." My eyes narrowed. "What happened to Luce?"

She sighed and looked me square in the eye. "I'm sorry, Tabatha, she…she's dead. She was burned alive by the fire."

My eyes widened and I became overwhelmed with uncontrollable tears. "N-no…No!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie." She leaned over and stroked my hair slowly, trying to calm me down. "But there's something else you need to know."

"W-what?" I choked on my tears.

"There's…no easy way to say this, hun, but…they think that you were the one who killed her." Miss Jennie sighed once more. "They're pressing charges. Luce's family and just about entire fucking neighborhood want you arrested and put in jail."

"Wh-what!" I nearly shouted, tears still streaming down my face. It's weird, but now that I think about it, that was the first time I ever heard Miss Jennie—a calm, sweet young woman—curse. "But I didn't do anything! I didn't-"

Just then, the door flung open. Men and women with cameras and recorders flooded in the room, swarming around me, spouting question after question about the incident.

"Tabatha, did you really kill Miss Edmunds?"

"Tabatha! Were you holding a grudge of some sort against Lucinda?"

"Miss Smith, could you please tell us your motivation behind the murder of Lucinda Edmunds?"

A woman with bright red lipstick and way too much mascara on her eyes to be considered legal got up in my face, slapping a card in my hand and saying, "Tabby—can I call you Tabby?—I'm Regina Spalding, professional attorney. I trust you'd like to take this case to court, yes? Please take my card."

Flashes of bright light everywhere stung my eyes as people scrambled to take my picture. I could hear Miss Hannah, Jennie, and Renee screaming at everyone to get the hell out. But I was just staring intently at my hands, not daring to think about anything else but Luce. Not daring to let the memory of her, the picture of her face, fade away. Hot tears kept dripping down my face, no matter how much I tried to stop them. The word "murderer" kept playing through my mind as I clenched my fist.

No. No, I did not murder Luce. I wouldn't—couldn't—do anything of the sort. She was such a beautiful, young, bright girl. She had so much to live for. And now she's gone. And I let her go. Maybe…it _was_ my fault…for not saving her.

I looked up, and noticed everyone was out of the room, except for two men in police uniforms. And I had a feeling they weren't here to protect me from the crazy reporters and lawyers.

"Miss Smith, may we speak to you?" one officer with a nametag reading "Jones" on it asked.

I didn't respond, just set my gaze on the floor and letting tears and snot drip from my face.

The other officer, fat and bald with a large mustache and a nametag reading "Hughes" handed me a box of tissues that was sitting on the bedside table. I grab a few and wiped off my face, though tears still kept pouring out.

Officer Jones sat down with a pen and paper. "Now, Tabatha—"

I shot him a look that could kill. "Who _gave_ you permission to call me by my first name?" I sneered.

He cleared his throat. "Miss Smith—"

"Diablo," I found myself saying. I didn't know why, though.

"Pardon?"

"My last name. It isn't Smith, it's Diablo."

"Is that so?" He asked glancing at the paperwork in front of him. "My records here say that you were left on the doorstep of the Vasquezville Orphanage seventeen years ago and only your first name—Tabatha—was scrawled on a piece of paper."

I said nothing, just glared at him. He shifted uncomfortably and picked up his pen and paper again.

"Miss Smith, do you know Lucinda Edmunds?"

"Of course I do," I sneered. "That's why we were up together at the Overlook."

He nodded, scribbling on a pad of paper as if he were my therapist.

"And can you tell how exactly you met her?"

I groaned and fell back onto the bed. This was going to be a long interview.

* * *

The gavel slammed down with full force as the judge spoke. "We're going to take a short recess. When we get back, Miss Smith, I want you on the stand."

I gulped nervously, feeling my tears on the brink of falling down my face. Regina Spalding, who ended up being my lawyer in this case after all, looked over and saw the nervousness on my face. She leaned down.

"Hey, Tabby," she said with a smile more fake than a Barbie doll. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine."

I glared at her. "I told you in the beginning, I _hate_ being called that."

"Yes, yes," she waved the thought away as if it were an annoying fly and turned to look through some papers. I really hated that woman.

Still, I felt like I needed to cry again. My eyes burned and my throat was parched and sore from lack of water. I still just couldn't believe that I actually lost Luce. I couldn't believe she was actually gone. This all felt like some endless nightmare and I just wanted to wake up.

My thoughts spun and whirled around in my head until the judge was back and slamming her gavel down once more. "Miss Smith. To the stand please. We're going to continue the trial."

I gulped once more, and shakily stood up from my chair. The walk, though only a mere few feet away, seemed endless. Once I finally got there and sat down, I looked up at Mrs. Spalding. She gave me her split-faced, fake smile again and mouthed to me, "Relax."

I tried to do so, but ended up failing miserably. I couldn't stop thinking about Luce. Every time she crossed my mind, my heart rate sped up and I felt like bursting into tears once more. I tried to contain myself, but accidentally let a tear fall. Quickly wiping it away and swallowing, I picked up my head to look at the attorney questioning me, Mr. Armstrong, his name was.

"Miss Smith." I was getting sick of being called that. "Could you please describe to me where you were the evening of January 16th?"

I cleared my throat and spoke softly into the microphone sitting in front of me. "I was at the Overlook in front of Lone Isle Forest."

"And who were you with?"

"…Luce."

"Could you please tell the jury your relationship with Miss Lucinda Edmunds?"

"We're just…friends."

"Now could you please describe to me the events of said evening?"

I coughed a bit and looked down at the floor. "I-I asked to meet Luce at the Overlook-"

"Let the record show that Miss Smith was, indeed, the one who insisted upon going to the Overlook with Miss Edmunds," Mr. Armstrong said.

Mrs. Spalding stood up. "I'm sure the record will show that just fine without your interruption, Mr. Armstrong!"

I heard the bang of the gavel once more. I was getting sick of it. "Calm down, you two, and let the girl finish."

I coughed once more and continued. "I asked her to meet up with me to return to her an expensive necklace that she got me for my birthday last month. It was really pricey and I just couldn't accept something like that." I looked up to see Mr. Armstrong beckoning me to go on. "We…were talking and…" I decided it would be best to leave out the part about us kissing. "Then this huge fire came. We didn't notice it at first, and it started spreading. When we finally did notice, the fire was huge and there was no way out and-"

Armstrong cut me off again. "Miss Smith. Do you really expect us to believe that you didn't notice a fire spreading? I think that's pretty close to impossible. You are under oath you kn-"

"Objection!" It was Spalding. "I'm sure there must have been some logical reason as to why they didn't notice the fire spreading."

"Alright, alright," Armstrong said. "Miss Smith, was there anything going on during the fire to distract you from noticing it spread?"

I paused. My only bet was the truth. Sighing, I spoke even quieter into the microphone. "I guess we were distracting from the fire because I…"

"Miss Smith you need to speak up," The judge said. "I'm right over here and I can barely hear you at all."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I…I kissed her."

I heard loud gasps coming from the audience and opened my eyes to see Mr. And Mrs. Edmunds glaring at me with full force. People began to chatter, which the judge had to settle by slamming down that horrid gavel.

Armstrong cleared his throat and continued. "So you were lying when you said that you two were just friends?"

"I-"

"And whose to say that doesn't mean you aren't lying about killing Lucinda?"

"I didn't kill her!" I stood up shouting. "I'd never kill her! I couldn't! I wouldn't! I lo-" I bit my tongue.

"You what?"

I sighed and looked him square in the eye. "I loved her."

"I see," Armstrong replied. "Love can drive a person to do crazy things, don't you think?"

I growled.

"You know what I think?" Armstrong said with a crooked smile. "I think that you asked Lucinda to meet you at the Overlook so you could confess your love for her. Once you did, she turned you down. You got mad. You loved her, and you didn't know what to do with your feelings. So you did the only thing you could. You killed her."

I grit my teeth, not knowing how to defend myself. Armstrong continued.

"We found a liter in your bag, Miss Smith. Want to explain to us why it was in there?"

This was looking bad, and I didn't know how I was going to defend myself. I carried around a liter simply because I could. That wouldn't even suffice as an explanation. "A lot of people carry liters around with them. I have no idea how the fire started and that's the truth!"

Armstrong smirked. "No further questions, your honor."

"Alright, then," The judge said. "If there's nothing else, will the jury please discuss and present a verdict?"

It only took about five minutes before my life began spiraling downward even more. A man with a goatee stepped forward and said, "We, the jury, find Miss Tabatha guilty of all charges.

_No…_

"And the sentence?" Armstrong asked. Spalding shot him a glare.

"Well," the judge said. "Since this was an arson committed by a 17-year-old girl, the sentence will be to get her help. Tomorrow morning, officials from the Vasquezville Asylum will stop by the orphanage to collect her in the morning. Until then, we expect her to be kept in complete isolation."

_No!_

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The tears came pouring down my face once more as the word kept ringing over and over again in my head.

_Guilty._

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**

**Before I go, you should know that I probably got a lot about court cases wrong here considering all my knowledge comes from Law and Order…and Judge Judy…and The Good Wife. (I watch a lot of lawyer shows…)**

**~Nikki **


	12. The Emptiness

"-inity…"

A voice came softly in the distance.

"Trinity…"

It was growing louder.

"_Trinity!_"

Trinity bolted up from where she slept on her usual right side of the bed, gasping still from the reoccurring nightmare that had been haunting her rem state of mind for what seemed like forever. Her cheeks were wet, as well as the pillow she was laying her head upon. Xavier had shaken her awake, a look of worry strewn across his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, wiping the salty tears away from her face.

"You were crying in your sleep again," Xavier replied, taking a seat on the bed next to her. "I'm really starting to get worried about these nightmares you keep having.

"It's nothing." Trinity's voice cracked, signaling to Xavier that it was, indeed, something.

"Do you really think it means something?" he asked, glancing out the window. "All those faces you find familiar. And that name—Todd Casil."

"I-I just don't know." She looked up at him with worried eyes as well.

Xavier sighed. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." He stood up and grabbed the keys to his motorcycle. "Get that author's address. We're going to pay him a visit."

"…Huh?" she asked, confused. "Xavier, it's five in the morning."

"He's an author, right?" Xavier asked, flashing a small smile. "Aren't those artsy people supposed to be up at, like, the crack of dawn to help them reach nirvana or some shit?"

She laughed. "Aren't you one of those artsy people?"

He shrugged, still smiling. Trinity gave a short laugh once more and opened to the page she found earlier about Todd Casil on her laptop. "He lives in Jhonen City, on 4659 Baker Street."

Xavier tossed her a helmet. "Then let's go."

* * *

Xavier drove up Baker Street, Trinity sitting behind him on the bike, her arms hugged tight around his waist. She had no idea what she was even going to say to this Todd Casil guy. "Hey, I just dropped by to let you know that I've been having dreams about you, and your face brings back so much déjà vu it gives me a headache." He would probably slam the door right in her face. She began speculating that this wasn't such a good idea.

Xavier finally parked and took off his helmet. "There it is," he said over the still running motor underneath them. "4659 Baker Street."

Trinity gulped nervously, pulling off her own helmet as well. She stepped off the bike just as Xavier powered it off. He took the helmet from her, giving her another worried look with it. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

"N-no," she replied, glancing over at the house. "No, this is my problem, and I should be the one who has to deal with it."

Xavier nodded as she turned and set off slowly toward the small, one-story house.

Trinity counted the steps as she made her way to the house, also while pondering how she would confront the man. 'What if this isn't even his house?' she thought, worriedly. 'What if this is all one big mistake?'

Nevertheless, she found herself at the front door, sucking in a deep breath and finally, after a few seconds of pep talk from her inner voice, rang the doorbell.

A light flickered on inside the house, and Trinity lost all words in a panic. 'Oh no, oh no…what am I going to do? What am I going to say?'

Her thoughts still whirled rapidly as the door slowly began to open.

"Yes?" came a deep, scratchy voice. The door opened to reveal a tall man with large brown eyes and brunette hair, the same shade as Trinity's, except graying a bit at the ends.

Trinity's heart thumped and her mouth open, but not a single word came out before she looked him straight in the eye and a déjà vu sensation stronger than any of the other ones before overcame her. She put a hand to her hand, but no headache came this time. Only a sudden fatigue.

And before she knew it, the feeling had become so strong that she blacked out, falling into the arms of a suddenly shocked Todd Casil.

* * *

After the verdict had been announced, I stood up quickly from where I sat, tears streaming down my face once more. "No!" I screamed. "I didn't kill her! I didn't-"

A white-gloved hand clapped over my mouth, and I turned my head slightly to see men who looked like doctors. I flailed and tried to scream, but one managed to grab a hold of my left arm and shoved what appeared to be a sedating needle into it.

Suddenly, my entire body went icy cold, my vision beginning to sway. And the last thing I remember seeing was the tear-stained face of Miss Jennie, who was most likely being forced to take me back to the orphanage to pack before the big move over to the asylum tomorrow.

I think it was from then on forward that I just began to feel…nothing.

* * *

My brain started to wake up, restoring back to me feeling throughout my body. I thought I was simply waking up from a nap, until the memories seemed smack me in the face like a baseball bat. My eyes flew open and I sat up quickly.

Still a bit groggy, it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I realized I was in a car, driving back to the orphanage. There was a fuzzy taste in my mouth and my brain felt numb on one side. Still, I managed to turn my head to make out a pair of broad male shoulders at the drivers seat, and Miss Jennie in the passenger seat.

Miss Jennie turned, not daring to look me in the eye. "Oh, Tabatha. Don't worry, dear, we're almost back at the orphanage. Once we get there, you can pack and go back to sleep."

Her words sounded like an echo to my still sleeping ears. My half-closed eyes and blank face must have made me look lobotomized. I tried to move my arms, but nothing happened. When I looked down, I realized there were multiple strange looking horizontal seat belts strapped across my torso.

I gave up any weak try of a struggle and set my gaze out the window. House after house passed by, and even Lone Isle Forest, home to the Overlook and Luce's grave.

I didn't even care.

I mean, of course I still cared about Luce. Of course I still wish none of this bullshit had happened. But I was just so tired of it. I was just ready to give up the fight. To let my guard down, because nothing matters anymore. They can lobotomize me for real if they want. I just. Don't. Care.

Eventually we pulled up to the orphanage driveway. I still didn't recognize the man who was driving, but he came around and undid each of my restraints. Miss Jennie helped me out of the car and led me inside. Through the door and up the familiar stairs that I'd be seeing for the very last time.

She led me into my room and told me to pack, and that once I was done, I could go to sleep. I did as she said, not even giving a thought to rebelling. My sedated mind still had me in a zombie-like state, making me move slowly as I shoved items into my black duffel bag. My books, my notebooks, even Luce's birthday present was shoved in there without a second thought. I said nothing, I felt nothing. I was just…nothing.

I zipped up my bag and fell onto the bed, ready to turn in for my final night in the orphanage.

"Tabatha, sweetie, please get up," Miss Jennie walked over to the bed, helping me up. "I-I'm sorry dear, but the judge said you had to be kept in isolation."

I gave her a questioning look and she sighed. "Please follow me." She grabbed my duffel bag and led me out the door and down the hall. She took me through a part of the orphanage I had never seen before until we came to a door marked with the word "Isolation".

She pulled out a set keys from her pocket and used one to unlock the door. She turned on the lights and pulled me slowly inside. I managed to find the bed despite my sleeping brain and lay down.

Miss Jennie looked as if she were crying as she turned to me once more. "Tabatha, I…I am so sorry. I don't want to do any of this."

I didn't reply. Didn't even look at her. I simply stared ahead with half closed eyes.

"I know you Tabatha," she said between weeps. "I know you're not guilty. I just wish…" she looked out the door for a few seconds before shaking her head. Shaking away any thoughts of helping me escape. Yes, I knew that was what she was thinking. I knew her, too. She looked at me once more. "I'm sorry."

And with that, she left, locking the door behind her.

I lay there, tired as hell. But every time I tried to close my eyes, they found their way back open again. I guess I really wasn't sleeping on the inside.

Two hours later, I still lay in the same position, my eyes fully open this time. I suppose no matter how much nothing I felt inside, there was still a part of me that wanted to put up one last fight.

One last fight…

I let my thoughts begin to work their way back into my head. Something I hadn't done since I was sedated this afternoon. I began thinking about how I wasn't guilty. About how I felt I needed to avenge Luce, however silly it might sound. About how I needed to clear my name. About my parents.

Suddenly, these thoughts began to join together into one big blob of motivation. And before I knew it, I was on my feet and moving toward the door. Giving the knob a turn, I realized how stupid I was to even check, considering I knew it was locked. I turned and examined the perimeter. No windows. No air ducts.

_Why would there be any of that stuff, idiot. This isn't some movie all set up and ready for your grand escape scene._

I huffed and sat down on the bed, putting my head in my hands and thinking about ways I could possibly pick the lock. Nothing in my duffel bag could assist me of that, and my nails were too short to do anything with.

I stared at my black nails until the sudden realization crept over me.

'That's right…' I thought. 'I'm the Anti-Christ now, aren't I?'

But how did I use any of the so-called "powers" my grandfather told me about that day in the girl's bathroom.

I tried kicking at the wall to see if I had any sort of super strength. Nothing. I looked over my hands and arms to see if any type of mysterious blade would come out and cut the wall open. Nothing. After a while of this, I felt rather stupid and hopeless. Maybe he was lying about any kind of powers to trick me and make me look stupid.

I fell to the floor and brought my knees to my face, because that was probably true. I probably just spent half an hour trying to summon powers within me that don't even exist. And for the first time in what seemed like a long while, I thought about Luce and all the events of the past twenty-four hours, and I cried.

Eventually, my sorrow turned into anger and I felt furious about everything. Everything was building up, until eventually, I didn't care who heard, and I threw back my head and let out a good, loud scream.

Something overcame me with that scream. Something not human. And when I opened my eyes, I saw that that scream had created a huge gaping hole in the once concrete wall before me.

With that, I heard voices and footsteps rushing toward my room, which I suppose was my signal to go. I grabbed my duffel bag and hopped outside to the ground before they could even fumble to get the right key in the door of my former cell for the night.

I was free.

I was also the fucking Anti-Christ.

* * *

**Sorry, I missed two deadlines. I'm not going to lie when I say I was distracted by watching Toonami and developing an actual social life. I feel so accomplished and yet so procrastinate-y.**

**Anyway, yeah. Review and what not, and I'll see ya next Saturday.**

**~Nikki**


	13. The Red Eyes

Hit the ground running. Oh god, don't stop! Wait, did I just jump from the third story of a building and land on my feet perfectly unharmed? No, wait, don't think about that. Just think about running. Concentrate on moving faster. Don't look back. Whatever you do, don't look back.

Shit, I looked back. People outside. Lights turning on. Everything whipping aside so fast. I could vaguely make out the tired face of Miss Carrie—an old, cranky bitch who never liked me—on the phone, calling the police, most likely.

Sirens. Oh god, oh god, why do I hear police sirens? I looked ahead and pressed on. Get as far away as possible—as quickly as possible!

I heard shouting behind me and police sirens growing louder. I was suddenly really, really tired. I couldn't run any longer, but I just had to.

I acted solely on impulse, quickly snapping my direction to the right and dashing inside what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. I ducked underneath a dirt-saturated translucent window and listened for voices, trying to make my extremely heavy breathing as soft as possible.

First came a deep male voice coming from a speaker of some sort. "Any sign of the girl?"

A female voice that sounded like it was just right outside the window replied, "Nothing yet. I'm pretty sure she ran past the warehouse, which is where I'm standing now. She's probably still running, though. Let's move quick!"

"Got it."

And the figure dashed off. I let out a huge sigh of relief and fell to the floor in exhaustion. However, I told myself I had to stay awake a bit longer, in case anyone came back.

I tried to keep myself awake by thinking about my powers. Not only did I just shoot a motherfucking flaming hole through a concrete wall, but I made a three-story-high jump to the ground completely unharmed and desperately running. I reached to the top of my head and felt the tips of my horns—my reminder that I truly was the Anti-Christ. I've gone seventeen whole years of my life without knowing that I came from a line of psychopaths and inhuman beings. I felt scared. I felt alone.

My eyesight began to blur, and I felt just about ready to fall asleep. That is, until a familiar swirl of smoke appeared before me. And emerging from that smoke, a familiar face. None other that Satan himself.

"Running away from the police, I see," he said with a grin. "Interesting how just a few decades ago, so were your grandparents."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do _you_ want?"

"What? I'm not entitled to pay my own granddaughter a visit from time to time?" he replied. "I just thought I'd congratulate you on figuring out how to use some of your powers."

"Yeah, well whatever," I whispered. "And keep your voice down!"

"Don't worry, dear, I've sealed out everything outside this very warehouse." Satan gestured to their surroundings. "No one outside there is going to hear a peep."

"Alright then." I sat back. "Then do you mind telling me a few things about these powers? How I can use them and what not?"

"It's not something I can explain, really," he said with a sigh. "You'll just know when you're about to use them. You'll get that feeling. Like back there with the hole in the wall, and that time you set the forest on fire, and-"

"Wait…that time I what!" I raised my voice to a shout now.

"Oh…oh, my. You mean you didn't know?" The Devil looked surprised. "Oh, dear, you thought the forest caught on fire for no reason?" He shook his head. "In the event of the…feelings…you had for Luce at that moment, you managed to use enough power to set the forest on fire."

"So…so you mean I was the one…?"

"The one who killed your dear friend Luce?" he asked. "Yes. Yes, you were."

I felt cold. The air around me seemed to drop in temperature rapidly. My stomach churned and my eyes began to spill tears once more. I was the one who killed Luce. Me. I…I'm a murderer.

"Oh, come now, look on the bright side!" He still had that stupid grin plastered on his face. "At least you know that your powers are working just fine."

"Shut. Up."

Satan paused. "What was that?"

I stood up, engulfed in rage. "I said. Shut. Up!" I smacked a hand onto the wall behind me in anger and glared at him with full force. "This is all your fault! You and your fucking Anti-Christ!" I spat. "You evil sick bastard! I'd KILL you if you weren't immortal! I'd rip those fucking horns right out of your head and use them to beat that fucking grin off your MOTHERFUCKING FACE!"

"Oh, full of rage, now, are we?"

"YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

I noticed flames beginning to surround me, but I didn't fucking care. I wished they would just burn this place to the ground, with Satan inside. I screamed, and the flames shot forward, growing taller and stronger. Then, in a state of rage, I kicked down the already weak wall and ran out. Leaving the Devil, grinning face wiped completely off, standing there engulfed in the flames, staring as I ran into the night.

* * *

"Does she do this a lot?"

Trinity stirred.

"What? Passing out and being brought into strangers' homes? More often than should be considered normal."

The voices sounded familiar.

"I actually meant passing out in general, but alright then."

Her eyes shot open at the sound of the pain-strikingly familiar voice. That voice belonged to none other than Todd Casil. She sat up quickly and looked carefully at her surroundings, allowing her eyes to focus in and realize that she was in Todd's living room, laying on his couch.

Wait, how did she know for sure this was Todd's living room?

That, she was unsure of. But she was just about positive that this was Todd Casil's house. It was all so familiar and painful and she didn't even know why.

"Are you okay…um…?"

"Trinity," she said, looking at the man, his face bringing back an unwanted headache. "Trinity Casil."

"Wow, that's a bit odd. We have the same exact last name," Todd laughed.

"What happened?" she asked, ignoring the man's laughter.

"I don't know," he replied. "I opened the door and there you stood. When you looked up at my face, you passed out right on the spot. Your friend over there came rushing over and we brought you inside." He gestured towards Xavier.

"I'm Xavier, by the way," Xavier chimed in, looks of relief that I was okay written in his eyes.

"You're Todd," Trinity interrupted before the man could reply. "Todd Casil, is that right?"

Todd nodded. "Yes. While we're discussing it, is there any particular reason why you two came to my home so early in the morning?"

"I-"

"Todd?" came a voice from upstairs. A figure descended from the stairs, revealing a middle-aged woman with dyed-red hair and piercing gray eyes. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," he replied to the woman. He looked back at Trinity. "Trinity, this is my wife-"

"Destiny…" she whispered.

"What was that?" the woman asked.

"Destiny…Freeman…" she said a bit louder.

Looks of confusion crossed Destiny's face. "Y-Yes…but how did you…"

Destiny was cut off by Trinity tucking her head between her legs and groaning at the pain of the increasingly strong déjà vu. She rubbed at her temples, desperate to try and ease the pain, but had no such luck.

"A-Are you okay?" Todd put a hand to Trinity's shoulder.

That was the final straw. Trinity snapped, throwing her hand back and screaming in pain. The touch of Todd's hand. It was all so intensely familiar that it hurt worse than any pain she had felt before. She gripped her hands to her head as Xavier came rushing over to pull her into a hug and attempt to calm her. It didn't help.

"Trinity…" he whispered, stroking her head and rocking her slowly back and forth.

The names kept echoing.

_Trinity. Todd. Destiny. Xavier. Pepito. Damon. Damen. Naomi. Andre. Miyuki. Abelina. Amanda. Lee._

Memories were swirling around in her head. But were they true? She couldn't tell just yet. That is, until it seemed as if they'd all combined into one large, painful memory and hit her like a rock. She thought she was going to pass out again, but the thoughts kept her wide awake.

Suddenly, her head went silent. She looked up slowly at Todd, tears silently streaming from her puffy, red eyes. She stood up, legs shaking, and breathed a single word. "…Dad."

"…Trinity?" Xavier asked after a brief moment of silence. "Are you alright?"

"Xavier…" she whispered. "Dad, Destiny, Naomi, Damon, Damen, Lee…" Her words grew louder with each name.

"What are you…" Suddenly, Xavier felt it too. The cold feeling of déjà vu grew strongly inside him. He remembered as well. He remembered everything.

"What's going on?" Todd asked. "What are you-"

Smoke began to swirl in the center of the living room. It grew larger and larger until, finally, a figure stepped out before them. An extremely tall, shadowy figure. A figure Trinity didn't recognize.

"Oh, well this is just great," the tall, bony man said. "I thought I'd had the strings of Fate untangled once I made Tabatha the Anti-Christ, but now I have to deal with _this_ again?" He shook his head.

"Tabatha?" Trinity asked. "What about Tabatha? What did you do to her!"

"Nothing at all, Miss Casil," he replied, holding his hands in the air innocently. "Nothing but help her reach what she was destined to do."

"Abuelo…" Xavier mumbled.

"Ah, you remember me, grandson!" The Devil smiled. "Unfortunately, that's not exactly a good thing in this certain situation."

"Abuelo!" Xavier shouted, ignoring Satan's previous statement. "What was that about making Tabatha the Anti-Christ?"

"I just needed a new one, is all, don't trouble yourself by worrying about it," Satan waved the thought away.

"Xavier, who is this?" Trinity asked.

"It's-"

"Satan!" Todd yelped. "I...I remember now! You're Pepito's father!"

Destiny gasped. "My god, you're right, Todd. How could I have forgotten all this?"

"Great, so now that we're all on the same page," Satan began, "how are we going to solve the issue at hand?"

Trinity suddenly remembered something. Something vital to the situation. Her father was supposed to be dead, so how was he-

"Oh my god…" Trinity sat herself down, feeling uneasy. "The funeral, the Angel, Xavier, we jumped off a cliff!"

Destiny remembered the funeral as well. Tears escaped her eyes as she threw herself on her husband. "Todd! Oh god, no! No, I won't let you take his life again!"

Satan sighed. "Human emotions are so…aggravating." He rubbed his temples. "Surely, you understand that I have no choice, Miss Freeman."

Destiny sobbed while Todd sat there, stunned. "Haven't you done enough to this family?"

"Hasn't this family screwed up Fate enough over the years!" Satan growled. "The Fates were generous enough to accept Ellesandra taking the burden of being the Waste-Lock off of your shoulders. You expect them to allow a man who should be dead live?"

Each one of them was dazed and confused about at least one thing. And each one of them wanted Todd to live. Trinity got up and ran, weeping, into her father's arms. "You can't kill him! You just can't!"

Satan sighed once more, looking off into the distance. "I suppose…there is one way…"

"What's that?" Trinity gasped through her tears.

Satan sighed. "Your daughter, the new Anti-Christ, Tabatha. She's quite upset with me. She set the building we were chatting in on fire and ran off in tears and rage. In doing so, she managed to summon a certain power she's acquired that masks her existence from anyone tracking her. Including me. Find her for me, and I'll allow Todd to live."

There was a pause of silence before Trinity spoke in a soft whisper. "Alright…we'll do it."

"Excellent!" Satan chimed. "I'll leave you to it then. I bid you ado!"

And with a puff of smoke, he was gone.

* * *

**And the award for most F-bombs dropped in one single scene goes to…Tabatha! Haha!**

**Jeez, teenagers. One minute they're all fine and good and the next they're running from the police and setting buildings on fire.**

**Thanks a bunch for reading and blah, blah, blah.**

**Later!**

**~Nikki**


	14. The Melody

I finally slowed my pace after running for god knows how long. I leaned against a dirty, brick wall, huffing in deep gasps from all the running I'd done that day. Looking down, I realized I was still wearing the same black dress I'd worn to court earlier that day. I'd have to change into something else. And while I was at it, I'd have to try my best to change my look entirely. I was on the run from the police, after all.

Slipping into the nearest gas station bathroom, I ripped open the duffel bag I'd been running around with and prayed that there was at least some money in there. I found thirty dollars in the pockets of my jeans total, and ten more inside the front zipper of the bag itself.

"Alright, forty bucks," I said to myself out loud. "Should be enough for some hair dye, a pair of sunglasses, and some other essentials." I realized that dyed hair and dark shades on my face would really make me seem like the cliché "criminal-on-the-run" type, but that was just about the least of my worries right then.

I dug out some sweat pants, a blue shirt, and my large black sweatshirt, putting them on with haste so the guy working the counter wouldn't think much of me staying in the restroom too long.

I walked back out and picked up a pair of white sunglasses and headed on over to look at the small bottles of hair dye. My options appeared to be brown and blond. Brown in my hair would just make it darker, which would do me no good at all. So I grabbed the bottle of blond hair dye, paid for both the items, and left the place with enough time to look around for a different restroom, considering I noticed the one at the previous gas station had a camera inside it.

Finally, around 3 AM, I found a gas station bathroom that had no camera inside it. I got to work quickly at rinsing my hair and applying the dye.

I wasn't expecting a top-notch dye job from a cheap bottle from a gas station, but I ended up doing better than I thought. Which proved to give me quite the opposite reaction than you'd expect considering when I was finished, I looked too much like Luce. The pain ended up bringing tears to my eyes.

_Don't cry, Tabatha. You have to get moving. You can't stay in one place for too long._

I wiped my tears quickly, pulled up my hood and walked out of the gas station to go and look for a place to rest.

I wandered for what seemed like forever, and found an abandoned building to turn in for the night. Shivering in the cold, I laid down using my duffel bag as a pillow and shut my eyes.

How long will it be until I know peaceful sleep again?

* * *

I woke up to the sounds of the busy city streets. What day was it? Who knows. Who cares?

I stood up slowly, putting on my sunglasses, grabbing my duffel bag and getting a move on. I couldn't stay in one place for too long. It was just too dangerous.

I stepped outside and began to walk, but was stopped when a curly haired brunette man tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to face him. "What?"

He was a bit taller than me, with green eyes and an oversized leather jacket. He smirked. "You're quite the pretty little blond, aren't you?"

"Do you need something?" I asked flatly.

"Just thought you might need help carrying that heavy looking bag of yours," he replied, still smirking.

I eyed him suspiciously. "That okay, I'm good."

"No, really, I insist." He moved quickly, kicking me in the shin and grabbing my black duffel bag, setting off back down the street without the slightest bit of hesitation.

I stood there, clutching my shin and running off curses, one after another. _Shit! My bag! My clothes! My money!_ _Wait…_

I reached in my pocket. _Oh, that's right. I put my money in there last night after I paid for the stuff at the gas station._

I sighed, too tired to even bother running after the douchebag. At least I still had my money. I leaned against the brick wall behind me and sighed. None of this was going well, and I couldn't do anything about it. I was just about ready to give up right then and there until I heard the soft melody of a guitar in the distance.

Turning my head in the direction it was coming from, I decided to move toward it. It was really a beautiful sound and I was interested to find the source of it. I moved closer and closer to it, listening as it became louder and louder, until I came to a girl sitting on the street. She looked a bit older than me—brown hair that spilled over her shoulders and wore ripped jeans and a plain white t-shirt. She strummed her guitar carefully, yet forcefully, and made a beautiful melody, to which she sang along:

_"Now I'm told that this is life and pain is just a simple compromise, so we can get what we want out of it_

_ Would someone care to classify our broken hearts and twisted minds so I can find someone to rely on_

_ And run to them, to them…full speed ahead…oh you are not useless _

_We are just misguided ghosts, traveling endlessly _

_The ones we've trusted the most pushed us far away _

_And there's no one road we should not be the same _

_But I'm just a ghost, and still they echo me _

_They echo me in circles…"_

People passed by, throwing bits of change into her guitar case as she finished her song. She must have noticed me standing there during her playing, for when she finished she said to me, "You gonna stand there all day, kid?"

I froze. "Um…"

She turned her head toward me and gestured for me to sit down next to her. I did so, wearily, and she looked me in the face. "You got any money?"

"No," I lied.

She sighed. "What's a pretty girl like you doing out on these streets? Run away from home after getting into a fight with mommy and daddy?"

"I wish." I looked down at the feet.

She laughed a little, holding out her hand. "I'm Spencer."

"Tabatha," I replied shaking the hand.

"So why _are_ you out here, exactly?" she asked, resting her guitar back in its case.

"Ah, the orphanage I've been staying in my whole life kicked me out because I'm over the age limit," I lied once more.

"Crap, sorry about that 'mom and dad' crack earlier."

I waved it away. "That's okay. I'm already set on the idea that my real parents are assholes anyway, so it's kind of similar to that scenario you gave."

Spencer laughed. "Well, Tabatha, that's quite a dye job you've got going on there. Are you sure you're not on the run from the police?"

I forced a laugh. "Pretty sure." I'm a better liar than I thought.

"Well, if you ever find you need advice or a place to stay, you can always come find me." She smiled.

"Thanks," I said, returning the smile and getting up. I was starting to get cold and hungry, and was pretty sure there was a convenience store a couple blocks away.

"Until we meet again, Tabatha," Spencer called after me as I left, picking up her guitar and beginning to play another soft melody.

I was right about the convenience store. It was just two blocks away from where I met Spencer. I walked inside and pretended to look around for a bit. Really, I just wanted to get out of the cold. It seemed like everyone stared at me—except one woman who was chattering away on her phone—so I pulled down my hood to look less like a robber.

About ten minutes later I noticed a man who looked like he worked there locking the front door. I seemed to be the only one who noticed, considering no one else paid him any mind. I approached the man cautiously.

"Why are you locking that door?"

He turned and seemed a bit surprised to see me. Finally, he said, "Oh, dear, don't tell anyone about this, but a woman just notified me that she called the police because she thought she saw someone inside the store that looked just like a wanted criminal she saw in the newspaper."

My heart skipped a beat. That woman on her phone earlier. No.

"The police are on their way over now and have instructed me not to let anyone out," the man said. "But please don't let anyone else here know this, one of them might be a criminal."

I tried to stay calm and I nodded and walked off. This couldn't be the end. It just couldn't. I ran to the back of the store and tried at the back door. Locked as well. Cautiously, I slipped into the bathroom without anyone noticing.

My head spun as I tried desperately to think of a plan. Suddenly, I noticed an air duct in the corner of my eye. Then came the voices.

"This is the police, open up."

Shit! I climbed up on the sink, opened up the air duct, and climbed in just as I heard the bathroom door swing open behind me.

I crawled and crawled for dear life until finally, I came to the light at the end. I heard voices on the other end of the duct—"Yes, her name is Tabatha Smith. If you ever do see her, please notify us as soon as possible."

"Hey do you think she could have climbed through that air duct?"

"Stop asking stupid questions, this isn't a spy movie!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and kicked open the other end of the air duct, jumping outside to freedom.

"Hold it."

I froze, turning my head slightly. My heart pounded as a figure emerged in the distance.

It was Spencer.

Her guitar was strapped her back and swung from left to right as she walked toward me, a look of concern written across her face.

"S-Spencer…"

She threw a newspaper article on the ground. The title read "Pyromaniac Teenager on the Loose after Killing Local Resident". Underneath it was a picture of me, still with black hair and empty eyes.

"I don't know what you've done, Tabatha, or what you plane to do," she said. "And you don't need to tell me either…but I know this isn't you."

"But it _is_ me-"

"But I know you didn't really do this." She looked at me square in the eye and smiled. "All I know is that you lied to me when you said you weren't on the run from the police."

It took a few seconds to realize she wasn't being serious, but when I did, I grinned too, showing off my pointed eyeteeth. I looked over at the police cars in the distance, then back at Spencer. I reached down and grabbed the article. "Well come on then, you've already been seen with me. You're an accomplice. Just don't tell anyone."

"About what?"

"About this." Smoke swirled around me as I grabbed Spencer's hand. And with one last puff of smoke, we were both gone.

* * *

**God, so much frustration. This was kind of crappy and not really to-the-point, and Spencer's character was so forced and underdeveloped but I'M TRYING, OKAY?**

**I'm very angsty and stuff to get this finished because I'm all hyped about starting my new account, Sweet Effervescence, and everything I write has just been so forced because I'm trying too hard to get it done SOMEONE HELP ME.**

**Also, I might add that there will be no romance between Tabatha and Spencer because I'm a crabby bitch who doesn't have time for fluff.**

**NO MOAR FLUFF FOR YEW!**

**Oh, the song sung by Spencer is not mine. It's called "Misguided Ghosts" by Paramore.  
**

**And with that, I'll try my very best not to make the next chapter crappy.**

**~Nikkeh**


	15. The Lullaby

Naomi sat beside Damon on the brown leather couch in the middle of their apartment. Damon's twin brother, Damen, was in for a visit, for his job as a photographer brought him all the way back to Vasquezville, his home town—and with it, so many memories.

And that was exactly what the three of them were talking about that day. The memories.

Naomi, Damon, and Damen all went to the same high school together growing up, which was where Naomi and Damon began to date.

At the time, they were reminiscing over "that one time" when Damen dared Damon to dye his hair green, which he did so very willingly—pissing the hell out of his girlfriend in the process.

They laughed and laughed until Naomi spoke of one particular event that really struck a chord with everyone in the room.

"Oh my gosh, there was this one hilarious time when I made Trinity jump the school fence with me to vandalize Mr. Crawford's room, and she got stuck on the-"

"Trinity?" Damon asked raising an eyebrow.

There was an awkward silence as everyone began to ponder the same question: Who was Trinity and why did Naomi remember her?

Suddenly, Damen spoke up.

"Trinity…Casil?"

Everyone froze, straining to remember the name and match it with a face. They _knew_ the name Trinity Casil. All three of them. But trying to recall the memory was like trying to scratch an itch that was under your skin.

However, it was almost as if all three remembered at once.

"And…and there was Xavier too," Damon said.

"Trinity's boyfriend…sort of," Naomi added.

Damen paused. "Our…cousin."

Then came more silence.

"How…how could we forget such a thing?" Naomi said quietly.

Damen stared. "But didn't they…?"

Naomi finished for him, even though all three of them knew. "…jumped off a cliff."

Damon coughed. "Naomi…remember that girl who passed out on the sidewalk that we brought back here? Wasn't that…?"

Naomi's eyes widened. "It was."

And it was then when it seemed as the whole world had come to a halt. But in actuality, it was instead Satan's curse coming to a halt. It was then when everyone who had ever come into contact with Trinity and Xavier suddenly remembered. It was almost as if a soft lullaby of reminiscence rang through the air across the minds of each individual. The strings of Fate had finally snapped, and know one even knew it.

* * *

"What the actual hell?" Spencer pulled away from me quickly as we departed in a new area. Her wild eyes had fear painted across them and she was breathing heavily.

I studied our new surroundings, breathing in relief as I discovered there was no one resembling a police officer anywhere near by. "There's something about me you need to know."

Spencer said nothing, only stood there with widened eyes and an open jaw.

"There's a reason why I'm being chased by authorities, but it's your choice whether you believe me or not." I spoke slowly, making sure she understood each and every word that came out of my mouth. Though, I was still shaking a bit myself.

She nodded, signaling for me to go on.

So there we stood for quite a while; me telling her all about my amazing journey that began in an orphanage and ended on the streets with insane powers to top it all off. I left out anything about Luce however. That part was a bit personal.

She nodded all the while I was talking, not interrupting once. Her face seemed calm but her eyes told a completely different story. She was bewildered—and I couldn't blame her. I hardly believed any of this myself.

I finished my story, letting her know so by looking her straight in the eye to see if she understood. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and finally spoke.

"Okay."

I was slightly taken aback. "O-okay?"

She nodded.

"I just told you the most insane story—of which I'm not even sure I thoroughly believe myself—and you say 'okay'?"

Then something completely unexpected happened. Spencer smiled. She _smiled_. Smiled and looked at me, and said, "You said it yourself. I'm an accomplice now. What else do I have _to_ believe?"

This time it was my turn to open my mouth without saying anything at all.

"You said you accidentally broke out a fire at a place called the Overlook and that's why you're running from the police?" Spencer went on, ignoring the previous awkward silence.

"Um…yeah," I replied with a nod. "Why?"

"It's just…the name of 'The Overlook' sounds strangely familiar…"

I looked straight at her. "Perhaps you're remembering the tale of the two teenagers who committed suicide together by jumping off of it?"

"Yeah." She snapped her fingers, recalling the memory. "But it's kind of weird. Like…I feel like I'm remembering it first-hand instead of through a stupid tale, you know?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Like…you were there when it happened? And it actually _did_ happen?"

Her entire face lit up as she whispered silently, "Of course…how could I forget?"

"Forget what?" I asked.

Her face warmed as she smiled. "My cousin, Naomi Sanches. I haven't seen her for more than fifteen years." She seemed to stare off into the distance. "In fact, the last I ever remember hearing from her was…that night." She turned back to look at me. "The night the two teenagers jumped off of the cliff!"

"What happened?" I asked, suddenly extremely interested.

"I was at least nine or ten when I walked into the kitchen and heard my mom on the phone with her sister, Naomi's mom," Spencer began. "I heard something about Naomi being extremely depressed, and I needed to find out why. We had one of those phones in the basement that connected to all the lines, so I ran down there to hear the entire story."

"What did you hear?"

"Naomi had this best friend since middle school—Trinity, I think her name was."

My heart skipped a beat. 'There's no way…' I thought to myself.

"Anyway," she went on. "Trinity's dad had died, making her really depressed. Her boyfriend—I forget his name, but it was something weird like Zig or…"

"Xavier," I whispered.

"Yeah!" She snapped her fingers again. "That was it! Anyway, I guess they both decided to commit suicide together and jumped off the cliff. Naomi was so hurt and depressed, but then after that day…I think I just completely forgot about her. I never heard from her again. In fact, I never even thought about her again until this moment. It's so strange…"

I gulped. My heart was beating extremely fast. This story, along with the short wisps of stories that Satan showed me that one day in the girl's bathroom, all connected. Xavier and Trinity—my mom and dad—were the teenagers in that story who jumped off of the cliff. Satan rearranged everyone's memories so that everything was different and no one remembered the two, so that Todd—my grandfather—could live. It all made sense now.

But not only that, there was also the fact that I now had a key to finding help—to finding my family. I looked pleadingly at Spencer and asked, "Do you know where I can find your cousin Naomi?"

"Well she used to live in Vasquezville," she replied, putting a finger to her chin. "Ah, now I remember. She lived on Clark Street. I remember her address too because it was easy to remember. Yeah, that's right, 4242 Clark Street in Vasquezville." She smiled. "Wow I can't believe I still remember all of this like it was yesterday."

I grabbed her quickly and pulled her into a hug. I really, _really_ hated to touch people. But Spencer…she reminded me so much of Luce. And I never got the chance to hug Luce like this before she died, so I hugged Spencer in her place.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "For everything."

"Are you going somewhere?" She asked as I pulled away.

I nodded, wiping away a small tear that had escaped from my face. "Yeah, I am. I'm going to go find my family."

I smiled one last time at Spencer, and with a puff of white smoke, I was gone.

* * *

I stood in front of the small house with the address Spencer had given me. I had to prepare for the fact that Naomi might not be the one to answer the door. She probably doesn't live here anymore, but I was really hoping someone who would be able to give me her whereabouts did. I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

It took no less than five seconds for a woman with gray hair and beaty eyes to open the door. "Yes?"

I swallowed. "Hi, um, I was wondering if you possibly knew the girl who had lived here a little longer than fifteen years ago, Naomi Sanches?"

"My daughter?" the woman raised an eyebrow. "Who's asking?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. This was Naomi's mother. "My name is Tabatha, I'm a friend of Spencer."

"Spencer?" she asked. Realization dawned over her face. "Oh yes, my niece. Gosh, I haven't seen her in years. How is she?"

"She's great," I smiled. "I, um, actually have a message from her for Naomi. But she doesn't know where Naomi lives today, so she sent me to this address."

The woman nodded politely and said, "Hold on a second." She walked off into a different room and came back with a piece of paper. "This is where Naomi lives now."

She handed me the paper. JV Apartments. 4759 Main Street here in Vasquezville. Apartment 7-D. "Thank you so much."

The woman smiled. "And tell Spencer I said hello next time you see her."

"I will," I replied, walking off. But I knew that I might very well never see Spencer again.

But that wasn't important now. The only thing important was that I find Naomi and then find my family.

* * *

**So I can tell you now that there will be two more chapters of this story: the last chapter and the epilogue. Then it's done. For good, this time.**

**Cue the sad faces.  
**

**The story WILL be completed this week. This chapter uploaded today, the last chapter tomorrow, and the epilogue on Thursday. The reason being that I start school on Friday and I promised myself I would complete this fanfic before I start school.**

**So, other than that, thanks for reading and I'll see you tomorrow!**

**~Nikki**


	16. The Last Tears Shed

I stood there silently in front of Naomi's apartment door. I hoped she remembered Trinity, I really did. I knew Satan's curse had been broken, but did that mean _everyone_ remembered? I hoped so.

I knocked on the door quietly, but loud enough for anyone inside to hear. A tall man with black hair answered the door. He looked at me, a little tired but still with curiosity. "Can I help you?"

"Does Naomi Sanches live here?" I asked without hesitation.

The man seemed to be taken aback by my straightforwardness. Nevertheless, he turned his head and called, "Naomi?"

A woman with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail stepped into view. "What's up, Damon?"

The man, Damon, pointed at me, signaling that I was here to see her.

Naomi walked forward. "Hello." She smiled.

I took a deep breath. "Hi. My name is Tabatha. Tabatha Diablo. I need to talk to you about Trinity Casil and Xavier Diablo."

Both the man and woman's eyes widened as I said each name. Naomi coughed awkwardly and asked me to come in and sit down. I did so.

Naomi and Damon sat across from me.

"What did you say your name was?" Damon asked.

"Tabatha Diablo, why?"

"It's just…" he shook his head.

Naomi spoke up. "Why did you come to us about Trinity and Xavier?"

"Because you're the only key I have to finding them," I said sternly. "I-I'm their daughter."

There was silence as Naomi and Damon stared at me in befuddlement. Their eyes were wide and their mouths were slightly opened. That meant it was time for me to begin my story.

I talked about the orphanage and Satan, but left out the fact that I was on the run from the police. I told them the same lie that I told Spencer in the beginning—that the orphanage had kicked me out for being too old. But most of all, I talked about how badly I needed to find my parents.

Naomi shook her head. "I don't believe this."

"It's true, though, Naomi." Damon sighed. "Satan…he's my great uncle. Xavier is my cousin. Which means," he smiled at me, "you're my niece, aren't you?"

"Niece?" I questioned.

"Even though Xavier and I are technically cousins, we share the same biological father." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's kind of a long, weird story, but that's the short version."

Naomi stood up. "Do you expect me to take this sort of thing lightly, Damon?" She asked, shakily. "You can't just drop an 'Oh, by the way, I'm related to Satan' bomb on me out of the blue. It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't, Na." Damon sighed. "But for right now, can you at least bare with me and pretend it does." He smiled at me. "I really want to help out Tabatha here in any way I possibly can."

"But how do you even know that she's-"

"I just do," he interrupted, still smiling, knowing how exactly her question was going to end. "A person can tell who their own kin is."

Naomi shut her mouth abruptly, nodding and sitting back down. "Alright, then." She turned to face me. "I've only been to Trinity and Xavier's apartment once since last I saw her after the, you know…incident."

I nodded, signaling for her to go on.

She grabbed a piece of paper, much like her mother did for me earlier, and wrote down the address of their apartment and which room theirs is.

I grabbed the paper and thanked her wholeheartedly. I was about to say something about possibly talking to them again sometime before Damon opened his mouth.

"Hey, those police sirens sound pretty close, don't they?"

Something seemed to snap inside my brain. I stood there frozen. I suppose I had been so caught up in finding my real parents that I hadn't heard the police sirens just outside the building. However, once I did, I bit my lip so hard that I began to taste blood.

_No. Please. Not here. Not Now._

"Yeah, they do," Naomi added. "I wonder what-" She turned her attention back to me. "Hey, are you alright? You're white as a ghost."

"I…I…" I swallowed hard. "I-I have to go."

I swooped out the door and down the stairs without another word. Once at the main entrance of the building, I peered outside carefully, trying to get a good look at what was going on.

They were police cars, all right. Someone must have seen me come into the building and called for backup. Now the only problem was trying to get out without being noticed.

I took a deep breath. _It's okay, Tabatha. You've done this before, you can do it again._

I shut my eyes tight and disappeared with a puff of smoke. I didn't have a particular destination in mind, which proved to be a real problem. For when I reappeared somewhere else, I was standing right in front of the blaring red and blue lights of a police car.

"There she is!"

I sucked in a deep breath and ran. I tried my hardest to disappear once more with an actual destination in mind, but my panic took over and prevented this from happened.

A shot rang out in the distance as something whizzed passed my ear. A bullet. An actual, real bullet. They weren't screwing around with trying to catch me with tranquilizers and little stuff like that anymore. They were actually trying to kill me.

Another shot rang, and I tried once more to disappear—this time with success.

I opened my eyes to find myself in the nearby forest, surrounded by trees. I tried standing up, but was brought back down by a horrifying pain in my side. I looked down and saw that I was covered with blood. My eyes widened.

They had actually shot me.

I gasped heavily for air as my vision began to waver. _No way. It can't end like this. It just can't. I was so close._

I took in a deep breath of the cold late-winter air as I writhed in pain. Then, as quickly as I disappeared in a curtain of smoke many times that day, I disappeared once more. But this time, into a curtain of black, utter darkness.

* * *

"It's been three days, Xavier," Trinity said quietly as she stared out the window. "We can't just keep sitting here any longer. We need to find Tabatha."

"And how are we going to _do_ that?" Xavier replied from behind her. "She could be anywhere. If the Devil himself can't find her, how does he expect us to?"

She flipped her head to face him. "She's your _daughter_, Xavier. And you're talking about her like she's some lost puppy."

Xavier said nothing, only stared at the sunset with sad eyes.

She turned entirely, looking Xavier in the eye and taking a deep breath. "I know it's hard to accept that a good chunk of your life was one big lie. But there are other times and places to worry about that. Right now, we need to save my dad. We need to find Tabatha."

"And do what?"

The brown in Trinity's chocolate eyes flickered as she smiled. "And welcome her back home."

* * *

White. That was all I saw. Glistening, blank, white. Everything was stained with the bright white color of freshly blanketed snow. Even the angel that had appeared before me.

Wait…the angel?

I blinked. Yes, it was an angel indeed. Its large, white, feathery wings outstretched in the sky as it came closer toward me.

I realized that I had no longer felt the siring pain in my side. Was I truly in heaven? How is that even possible for the Anti-Christ?

Then, came the flicks of golden hair. The angel came even closer and I was finally able to make out a face. It was enough to bring me to tears of joy.

Luce. The angel was Luce.

"Luce," I tried whispering, but nothing came out of my mouth.

She smiled at me. "Don't cry, Tabatha. I know you're broken inside, and I know you want to give up more than anything, but you can't. You need to turn back around now and face the truth. You need to face yourself."

I gulped. She looked so beautiful in the glistening sunlight.

"Turn back around, Tabatha. Please, for me." Her smile grew warmer and brighter. "I'll see you again in time. But for now, you need to fulfill your Fate."

I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut and taking a deep breath. Luce was right, I couldn't die now. I had unfinished business to complete.

Luce thanked me as she bent down to look me in the eyes. "Still have eyes as red as blood, I see. Even though I loved your brown eyes, I still think that red suits you well. It goes to show how different you are." She turned her head as we both heard a muffled sound in the distance. "Well, I think someone's trying to get your attention. I better go."

I raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about? All I heard was muffled whispering.

Suddenly, Luce began to fade away. "And by the way, Tabatha…"

I turned my head to look at her.

"I love you, too."

My eyes shot open and my head reeled. I was back in the forest, the pain returning to my side. However, I also heard whispering. I couldn't make it out at first, but it soon became clear.

"Tabatha, can you hear me?"

My head shot to the right and my eyes widened. It was Spencer.

"How did you-"

"You didn't think I'd let a friend run off while being chased by the police, did you?" she asked. "Who do you think I am, Tabatha? A canon character in some story?" She smiled. "I followed you along the way. I waited until the police cars had dispersed before I came looking for you, though, in case they recognized you're so-called 'accomplice'."

"Don't flatter yourself," I laughed. I was joking of course. I probably would have died had Spencer not shown up. I looked down and saw a piece of cloth from her sweatshirt was wrapped around my torso as a make-do tourniquet.

She noticed me staring at it and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about that. I didn't exactly have a first-aid kit on hand, but you know. At least I tried."

"A for effort," I replied, wincing as I tried to stand up. She caught my hand and helped me up. "Thanks," I said. "No, really. I'm glad that you're here."

"I found the address of where you're headed to in your pocket." She handed me back the piece of paper, slightly bloodied from my bullet wound. "From where we are now, it's literally right down the street. And I know you'd rather go on alone, I understand that it's a pride thing. But before you go…" she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded white, slightly crumpled piece of paper and handed it to me. "This is for you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"An unfinished song." She smiled. "I know it sounds pretty stupid, but you're entire story inspired me. I didn't have time to finish it, but I thought it could be a little something for you to remember me by." She reached out to put it in the pocket of my sweatshirt, pulling out a small box in the process and asking, "Hey, what's this?"

I smiled. It was the necklace from Luce. It had been in my pocket this whole time. "It was a gift from a special friend."

She placed it back in my pocket. "What kind of special friend?"

I smiled. "An angel."

Spencer gave me a funny look, but ended up shrugging it off and leaving it at that. "Well, I better go. Good luck finding your parents." She smiled at me and began to walk away.

Once her figure had evaporated into the almost dark sky, I noticed it beginning to rain. I took out the piece of paper from my pocket and began to read,

"_She may seem like the simple type but really no one understands her_

_And she may seem like a stereotype but really no one's there to get her_

_We're deaf to truth and blind to lies and stay this way until we die_

_But no one_

_Will ever see the world_

_As different as she did_

_Through stained red eyes, through Satan's gift_

_And no one_

_Will ever find the rain_

_As blissful as she did_

_And she cried as it fell upon her skin_

_Tabatha did…"_

I stood there with half a smile on my face. A well-written song indeed. I would have been interested to hear it if it were ever completed.

I folded the paper back up and placed it in my pocket, setting off towards the sounds of the bustling town of Vasquezville. Tonight, my life was going to change forever.

And was I ready for it? Hell yes.

* * *

Back to staring out her favorite window, Trinity sat in a rather uncomfortable chair, curled up into a feeble position. She did this whenever it rained. Why?

Because it was raining the day Tabatha was born.

She always wondered whether her baby girl was staring at the same rain or not. Yet, she was always able to convince herself that she was. Trinity always felt the deep connection with Tabatha whenever it rained. She didn't know why, but she didn't bother to question it, just let it be.

This time, however, Trinity was completely out of it. The connection this time was too great for her to concentrate on anything, so she didn't even bother to try.

In fact, she didn't even move a muscle when a loud knock came at the front door.

Xavier walked into the room and looked at her, questioning whether he should try to move her at all. He opted not to and proceeded to the front door, opening it up to reveal a soaking wet girl, hair dyed blonde with black roots peaking through at the top.

She looked straight up at him, and it was then when he could recognize her instantly. She breathed heavily as if she had just run a marathon, but still holding his gaze the entire time.

Xavier didn't move an inch, just stood there and said, "Trinity, I think you should come over here and take a look at this."

Trinity blinked, got up, and moved slowly to the door, eyes widening at what she saw. She sucked in her breath; though she still wasn't 100% percent sure this was who she thought it was.

That is, until the girl finally spoke up.

"…My name is Tabatha Diablo…I…I'm you're daughter."

* * *

**Oh. My. God. I cannot believe it's finally over. (Well, not really, because the epilogue will be posted tomorrow…but it's metaphorically over.)**

**And that means it's SPEECH TIME.**

**(Oh, and by the way, in case you're wondering, I did indeed write that small half-a-song for Tabatha. You're welcome.)  
**

**So…I started writing this trilogy in sixth grade (which explains why my writing sucked balls back then). Dirge then tagged along and offered to help me write it, only in a different story from her character's point of view. I graciously accepted, considering her amazing writing skills were a billion times better than mine, which helped cover the fact that, again, my writing sucked balls. Hers was meant as a sequel to a crossover she wrote for JTHM and Batman (because who in their right mind doesn't like Batman?), so the trilogy ended for her within my sequel. Are you confused as hell yet? So then it was seventh grade and I finished the sequel to Fate, which was called "To Write Love on Her Arms" and began this piece of work. This Friday, I'm starting high school ("What, Nikki, you're _that_ young?" I am indeed, my little cucumbers. I am indeed. Want to know another super fun fact? My real name isn't Nikki, that's just my penname. My real name is actually Franny. You learn something new every day.) Therefore, this trilogy was basically my entire middle school years. Reading back on it is like swimming in a pool of nostalgia and for some weird reason, I find it entertaining to think about how much middle school sucked. Which is why finishing this story right before high school is like a big grand close to…well…everything. But more than that, it's a new open door into my future where I'm ready to write new stories and make new memories.**

**TL;DR: This story has come a long way, and for that, I thank you.**

**If you want to read more of my future developments in writing, you should check out my new FFN account, Sweet Effervescence. Once the epilogue of this fan fiction is posted tomorrow, I will not be uploading anything new onto this account and will move all of my work onto my new one. For more information on this account move, you can see my last update on my other JTHM fanfic called "Claire".**

**If you'd like to read some of my original work, you can head on over to my FictionPress account which is Nikoala.**

**And on that note, I thank you once more for absolutely everything and bid you a wonderful evening.**

**Thank you, always…**

**~Nikki / UnicornxNinja**

**~Frances C. Parent**


	17. Epilogue: The Fate

"I hate the world. It's full of these disgusting humans that do nothing but feed off one another's misery. It sickens me. You sicken me. I hate the life I have and the body I'm in. I just want someone to save my life."

Tabatha smiled slyly to herself as she read this small phrase over and over again. It was the first thing she had ever written inside the small notebook her friend Renee had given her as a gift for her seventeenth birthday. It was the only thing she had ever written inside the small notebook her friend Renee had given her as a gift for her seventeenth birthday. Words so quiet on a page whispering to her so loudly. She could close her eyes and hear the words, breathing throughout every molecule of her body. These were sacred words. These were joyful words. These were pain-filled words. These were _everything_ words.

Seven days, twenty-three hours, nine minutes, and forty-six seconds. This is how long it has been since Tabatha and her parents had moved away from Vasquezville together in attempt to start new lives.

Vasquezville had too many memories. Too many secrets still unveiled. Too many thoughts all twisted together at once.

Too many people with too many stories.

Renee Mitchell had graduated from high school forth in her class. She will continue her studies in the upcoming fall at Columbia University in New York City. Two nights ago was the first night her eyes were unable to produce tears before she fell asleep. Two nights ago was also the night her doctor recommended she begin taking pills for her clinical depression that began on the third Saturday of April when the morning paper had arrived.

Spencer Bell had found what she claimed to be "love" and has recently moved in with her boyfriend of two weeks that she met at her favorite bar. The heart of the matter is that he feeds her recent cocaine addiction and only beats her lightly when he's in a good mood after getting drunk. She stares at the headline in the morning paper sitting on a stand near her local Seven Eleven for a few minutes before doubling over and heaving into a nearby trashcan caused by her head-splitting hangover.

Not much has changed in the lives of Naomi Sanches, Damon Diablo, and Damen Diablo. Naomi still sits and wonders every now and again what happened to Trinity and her daughter. Damon still questions if his entire life had truly been a lie or not. Damen has been staying with them in their apartment ever since he and his boyfriend Kenneth broke up. They all read the Saturday paper headline before throwing it away and promptly agreeing to never speak of it again.

Todd Casil and Destiny Freeman still live with each other and still talk with each other. The only current difference is the nightmares that occur now and again from the traumatizing experiences that seemed to occur much too often after a seemingly harmless friendship that began with a girl by the name of Ellesandra Carsonelgro. Todd finds the headline on the Internet and shows Destiny before exiting from the page and convincing himself it was all in his head.

Luce Edmunds is resting peacefully in heaven and is constantly thought about by Tabatha every single day. Her grave is visited every once in a while by people from her neighborhood paying their respects to the victim of maniacal arson. The day the article was published in the paper, seven copies of it were placed on her grave, and two more the next day.

Trinity Casil and Xavier Diablo agreed to take Tabatha and move on out of Vasquezville for good, leaving the painful and lonesome memories behind them. They don't see the article until two days after it's been published. However, once they finally do, they mutually decide that it would be best not to tell Tabatha about it.

She sees the article anyway.

Tabatha Diablo has been claimed dead by police officials after the determining that after she was shot the night she was in Vasquezville, she found her way into the forest before falling into the river and dying. The apparent body is most likely at the bottom of the lake that the river flows into and is far along in the process of disintegrating.

Tabatha frowns at the article, determining that the picture they used of her in it was not a very good one, which she decides to fix by setting the article on fire and throwing it in the waste bin. Her red eyes flicker as she watches it burn and she smiles a pointed-tooth demon-like smile that only a demon itself could manage to smile.

Tabatha is still the Anti-Christ and is visited often by Satan in secret. Neither Trinity nor Xavier are aware of the nights when she goes outside and talks monotonously to the Devil about anything and everything. It appears to be the only way that she's able to keep herself sane.

Tabatha walks inside one evening and grabs the small notebook her friend Renee had given her as a gift for her seventeenth birthday. She opens up past the very first page, where the very first paragraph was written on the very first line describing her very feelings at that very moment. She looks at the inner back cover where a small piece of paper with the words "Her name is Tabatha" scribbled across it sits. She puts on a sly smile once more and thinks deeply about the stories and feelings Trinity had shared with her over the course of time. She thinks about how Trinity felt at those certain times and about the things she said about those certain times. She thinks about her own stories and feelings over the course of time and how they related to Trinity's. It helps her realize that all along, the story was not hers, it was Trinity's.

She thinks back and back to when she placed a black veil over a mirror and claimed she would never take it down until things got better on her spectrum. She thinks about how the veil still most likely sits on that mirror until this day, and may not ever come down. She thinks about how she would like to take that veil down anyway, even though things may never get better. She doesn't know why, but it makes her want to write and write and write until her fingers bleed, which she wouldn't mind too terribly.

But, after all, this wasn't her story, was it?

She places the pen against the blank piece of paper and begins to write:

"A beginning. Two words that can mean many different things…"


End file.
